Golden Eyes
by AxJfan
Summary: Takes place in their third year and is kind of AU. Jaden has horrible nightmares of Haou. There are two 'evils' at Duel Academy now, and it seems that both of their targets is Jaden. However, with one students attempts to seduce him... DISCONTINUED. See "Golden" for the redone story.
1. Prolouge

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YUGIOH GX!**

**HEY GUY'S I'M BACK! AND I AM STILL OBSESSED WITH AxJ AND HAOU!**

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**Prolouge**

I was standing in a very dark and unfamiliar place. The walls around me looked as if they were shadows, never ending and hiding from any ray of light that could penetrate this darkness. I was alone. The only other thing that hovered around mewas mirrors that reflected nothing.

There was suddenly dark chuckling surrounding me. I whirled around, surprised. I wanted to be alone again. That laughter made every particle of my being tense up with fright. What was wrong with me? There was a shadowy figure standing behind me.

"Jaden Yuki," it told me.

"What are you?" I asked, freaked out that it knew my name. It was my height and looked like a boy, but I couldn't be sure.

"Nothing important," the figure said calmly. His voice sounded a bit like mine, only it was very cold.

It took a step towards me. I took a step back.

"No need to be afraid Jaden. I will not harm you," the thing said plainly.

"Back off buddy," I answered, feeling nervous. All of the mirrors around me suddenly flashed.

The thing smirked. It started to change right before my brown eyes. The figure's hair grew longer and his frame started to take on the shape of my clothes. My eyes widened in shock when I was soon looking at a darker version of myself.

"What the hell are you?!" I screamed, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

"I am you," he simply said.

The mirrors all flashed again, drawing my eyes to them. Gold, cold, and cruel eyes stared down at me from all directions.

"And now it's my turn to take control," the thing said.

I suddenly couldn't move. My body had frozen in place and the shadow before me vanished. One of the mirrors reflected my face in my dorm with Sy and Hassleberry. A small sigh escaped my lips and my eyes turned from brown to gold.

They looked up at me, startled. My face smirked at them and then a dark aura appeared around me. It surrounded them and they disappeared in shards of orange light…

"Syrus! Hassleberry!" I shouted, shooting up in my bed.

I heard two high-pitched screams and a loud "Bang!" as my two roommates awoke with a start. Hassleberry was on the floor seeing as he had fallen off the bunk bed in surprise. He rubbed his head and peered at me curiously. Syrus' head appeared above mine, he was looking down at me from his bed. He got out of his bed and onto the floor, observing me carefully.

I must have looked like hell for them to be staring at me like this. I knew my eyes were wide as dinner plates and I could feel the cold sweat dripping down my face. My breathing came out in gasps and I was shaking terribly.

"Jaden?" Syrus asked feebly. I looked at the clock behind him. It was 1:57 in the morning.

"Are you alright Serge?" Hassleberry wondered. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Weird dream," I replied shakily. I didn't offer any more explanation. For some unexplainable reason, I didn't want to see or talk about those eyes again. "But I'm going back to sleep new."

They glanced at each other but went back to bed. I rolled over but didn't fall back asleep. Those cold eyes were pictured perfectly in my mind.

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**Short, I know. It's only this short because it's the prolouge though. If you've read my other fic than you know how long my chapters normally are.**

**Review if you liked it! Don't if you hated it! Constructive critisizm welcome!**


	2. Remain Silent

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YUGIOH GX!**

**Jaden's acting a bit off this chapter, but then again so would I if I had just dreamed that something possesed me and I killed my friends! Also, a teeny tiny glimpse of the villian appears in this chapter and, of course, the tiniest amount of AxJ! (smiles innocently)**

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**Chapter 1**

**(Jaden POV)**

I waited until I heard my roommates' breathing become deep and even before sneaking out of our dorm. Maybe a walk would calm me down. My red jacket was draped over a chair and my pants were in next to it. From two years of practice, I slid silently into my clothing and slipped out of the dorm without making the slightest sound.

The gentle sound of the ocean splashing against the rocky cliff failed to calm me for once. Yet still I stared out into the silvery moon-lit water with a sigh. A dolphin chattered happily below me. I gave it a small smile and a little wave. She flipped over and waved her tail at me in a friendly way before taking off into the waves. Those little guys had taken a liking to me and stayed at Academy Island after I met them in Neospace.

Peace finally settled over me at the sight of a friendly face. I let my usual smile appear on my lips and laughed a bit when Winged Kuriboh appeared and nuzzled me gently. My little duel spirit chirped at me before settling down on my shoulder, like he was protecting me from my nightmare.

"I'm great now, thanks buddy," I told him gratefully. He chirped happily again and disappeared back into my deck. With my usual goofy grin plastered on my face, I stretched out and lay back on the slightly wet grass. Just as I closed my eyes something shifted behind me. I froze and slowly turned around. There was no one there.

"Jeez," I sighed. "It's just a stupid dream Jaden, calm down."

The forest stayed quiet in agreement with the occasional hoot from an owl. I let myself drift off again only to jerk back up when I heard cold laughter and saw bright gold eyes behind my eyelids. Okay, maybe I was still freaked out. When I heard a small animal snap a twig in the dark trees behind me, I jumped up and fled like the devil was after me. I managed to slip in my dorm just before the sun woke up from behind the volcano, filling the sky with red, orange, and pink light.

_And gold,_ I thought spastically before quietly shutting the door and crawling into my warm bed, waiting for Syrus to 'wake me up'.

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**(Unknown POV)**

Out in the forest, a figure shifted and gazed up at Jaden's room before slipping back into the blanket of shadows that claimed the darkness once again. The trees rustled with anticipation of the stranger and the animals went quiet. All was still, enchanted with the retreat of the shadows from the rising sun.

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**(Jaden POV)**

Soon after I crept back into bed, everything went quiet. I didn't know if it was imagination or not, but I could just _feel _that something was wrong. Just as my ears were screaming in the loudest silence I had every heard, the alarm clock in our dorm went off. I leapt a good foot in the air and landed with a resounding crash next to my bed, hanging upside down. "Ow," I whined while Syrus and Hassleberry laughed.

I walked to the showers in silence, glancing from side to side continually. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but _something_ seemed really wrong. Syrus and Hassleberry had resumed their argument over whose was my better friend, and had yet to notice my nervous behavior, which I was thankful for. Then it hit me. "Where are all the birds?" I asked.

My question must have sounded incredibly random and stupid, even for me, because they stopped mid-insult and stared at me, mouths hanging open. I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the sight.

"What did you say?" Syrus asked, coming out of his daze when I laughed.

"I asked where all the birds are, it's way too quiet," I repeated seriously.

They both paused and listened to the screaming silence for a few moments before shrugging. "They must still be asleep," Syrus suggested shyly.

Tyranno rolled his eyes and started up their argument again. Their chatter was starting to get on my nerves for once. "Would you guys cut it out!" I snapped. "You're both my friends, can't you just leave it?"

The turned away from each other in a huff. I let out an exasperated moan. "Come on you two, hug and make up," I teased lightly. Just because I was freaked out about some stupid dream doesn't mean that I have to make them worry.

They made faces at each other and I gave up. "Come on!" I jeered. "Race you!"

They perked up and Tyranno shouted something that sounded suspiciously like, "First one there's the Sergeant's best friend!"

They took off so fast that they left two clouds of dust in there trails, their towels trailing behind them like capes. I smirked lightly before taking off after the rivals. When I caught up, they were arguing over who had won.

I patted them both on the back and suggested, "Draw?"

They nodded reluctantly. I smiled while entering the giant outhouse. We got into three of the showers and waited lazily for the water to heat up, which takes a while in the Slifer dorms.

"So…" Syrus said lamely. He was looking at me out of the corners of his big gray eyes. "What was your dream about Jay?"

I tensed up immediately, despite the fact that I was trying as hard as I could to stay calm and relaxed. The wall I was leaning on suddenly felt cold and uncomfortable and I wanted nothing more than to get out of here. For Pete's sake! What is up with me today?!

"Can't really remember," I lied, rubbing the base of my neck sheepishly. "Something about the Society of Light I think."

"Oh," they both said uncomfortably. I turned my head slightly to the side so they wouldn't see my smirk. I knew they both didn't really like to talk about what happened last year, and I normally didn't either. So this was a perfect way to get them to stop bugging me about it. The only problem was, when did I become such a good liar? I usually was overcome with guilt whenever I tried to lie to a friend, so I could never really pull it off before. I dismissed the fact with a slight shrug before glancing up at my face in the mirror.

My expression was definitely something I didn't like. I was smirking the exact same way that look-alike had been doing in my dream. I shuddered and stepped into the running water before my friends could notice.

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I was still wound up when we arrived in Dr. Crowler's class and couldn't get to sleep like I normally could. My head was resting on my hands and I was staring blankly at the board, only taking in half of what Dr. Crowler was saying. What was wrong with me?

Syrus and Hassleberry kept throwing me worried looks and I could see Alexis, Bastion, and Atticus doing the same thing out of the corner of my eyes. Chazz was acting cool and indifferent like normal. Crowler even looked up at me in confusion. He looked as stunned as I felt because I was awake and apparently attentive for once. The only difference was I knew _why_ I wasn't going to let myself fall asleep or daydream, because there was no way that I was going to ponder over _that_ dream. It still scared me.

My head was starting to ache like a tornado had just smashed it flat. I sighed, closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose. The image of golden eyes, so cold and unlike my own, came roaring back to life and I could hear dark chuckling once more. My eyes flew opened and I jumped so badly I almost fell out of my seat. Now my friends were all looking at me funny, including Chazz. I could feel all of their heated gazes on the back of my neck. I thought over the possibility of pretending to have to go to the bathroom to avoid their questions, but then remembered this was Crowler's class. He'd rather be dropped into a vat of toxic waste than let me out.

So I was forced to wait for the bell to ring and for them to start pestering me. Sure enough, after class ended they all swarmed around me like bees to honey.

"What happened?" Alexis said the first one to speak, her beautiful features showing only concern. Whoa, did I just think _beautiful_? Since when did I think that about one of my friends?

I shrugged, not entirely sure why I didn't want to talk about it. "Just tired, I didn't sleep well last night."

Now they were all giving me _really, really _weird looks. "Wrong thing to say?" I suggested, slightly amused.

"Jaden Yuki not sleeping? That's a first," Bastion said, stunned. He ran a hand through his blackish hair curiously. "I wonder if this has anything to do with the lack of noise from the animals."

_Finally, someone else who notices! _

"I noticed that too," I confirmed. "It's really weird."

Chazz nodded and replied, "For once, I agree with Slacker. This isn't normal, but it's nothing the Chazz can't handle!" He punched the air above his head dramatically while the rest of us sweat-dropped.

"So is that why you couldn't sleep?" Syrus wondered curiously. "Because it was so quiet?"

I shrugged once again and replied, "I had a nightmare, and I just couldn't get back to sleep."

"Do you want to tell us what happened in the nightmare?" Alexis asked gently.

"I really can't remember most of it now," I evasively answered.

Her hands folded stubbornly over her chest. Syrus hovered over me, concern in his big gray eyes. For some strange reason, I wanted nothing else other than to pummel him for doing that. It had never annoyed me before…

I was suddenly aware of a hand waving in front of my face. I blinked a bit before focusing on Alexis' hand, and then on the girl herself. Her hazel eyes were looking over me in concern and her mouth was in a slight frown. I became aware of my surroundings again and realized that we were already in the cafeteria. The smell of fried shrimp made my stomach turn unpleasantly, something that _never_ happened before. Why was I freaking out so much? It was only a stupid nightmare!

_A stupid nightmare where I murdered my two best friends, _I argued with myself.

"Jaden?" a voice said from far away, dragging me from my thoughts.

I looked up into Alexis' concerned eyes again. "You just spaced out. Are you sure you're alright?"

Oh great, now I've got them worried about me. It took a huge effort on my part to plaster my usual grin across my face and try to go back into my normal bubbly attitude. "Yeah! I'm great! Now let's get some FOOD!" I shouted that last part and practically started jumping up and down while inwardly congratulating myself for being able to act so well. The guilt that usually came when I lied to my friends was still on a leave of absence, which made me feel a bit concerned, but was then overthrown by another part of me that enjoyed the fact.

I took off towards Dorothy to grab my plate with enthusiasm. Once again, my stomach flipped over at the sight of the food, but I ignored it when my friends caught up with me.

"How can you be so lazy and _fast_ at the same time Slacker?!" Chazz exclaimed, holding his side.

I laughed pleasantly and gave him my victory sign. "It's fried shrimp Chazz!" I pointed out happily.

Chazz grunted and muttered something about 'stupid slacker' under his breath. I froze suddenly as rage rose through my body. Then I shook it off quickly and sat down with my friends. I started absently picking at my food while Alexis watched me like a hawk. I noticed that, of course, so I stood up and suggested that we eat outside today. Since I wanted to go, Syrus and Hassleberry would follow, and since they went, so would Bastion and Alexis, and since she went, so would Chazz.

We ventured outside into the mercifully noisy forest. The animals were darting around like they had just simply overslept this morning.

"See, problem solved thanks to the Chazz," Chazz cried out in his sharp voice.

Alexis rolled her eyes and smacked him over the head. "But you didn't do anything!" she sighed. I took this temporary distraction as a chance to dump my food in the nearest trash, leaving only my empty tray and plate. I made a few noises like I was satisfied and my friends laughed.

"We should time how fast it takes Jaden to eat fried shrimp!" Bastion suggested. "I would estimate about 2 minutes, 12 seconds, and 45 milliseconds."

That last part flew right over my head, but I ignored it. Now that my food was gone, my stomach had stopped churning unpleasantly. I turned so I was lying on my stomach and rested my head on my folded arms, giving them one of my trademark smiles.

"So who wants to duel?" I asked innocently, because I knew that would take my mind off of my stupid dreams.

That only caused them to laugh harder before Alexis agreed to duel me. I let out a cheer and sprang up to my feet. She giggled at my antics and stood up gracefully. Her long blonde hair shone brightly in the soft sunlight and cast off an amber gleam. Her eyes sparkled pleasantly when she laughed. I mentally smacked myself and told myself to get a grip, Alexis was my friend for Kuriboh's sake.

All stray thoughts of my dream were obliterated. This was one of the best duels I'd had in a long time! Alexis was giving it her all and she had a few new tricks up her sleeves… er… well, if she had sleeves they'd be up there. Anyway, she had her Cyber Blader on her field and had just taken out my Elemental Hero Clayman. My Avian was still on the field in defense mode. Neither of us had any face-down cards and we both had two cards in our hands.

Alexis: 500

Jaden: 300

"That's all," Alexis said with a smile.

"Sweet! So now it's my go!" I cheered. When I drew my card, something weird happened. My vision went golden for a moment and I felt drained. I once again heard the voice from my nightmares.

"I think you need some help," it offered. I could almost see it smirking.

Alexis suddenly stopped when I put my hand to my head, which felt like it was being split in two.

_I don't need your help, _I snapped. My world suddenly spun out of focus and my friends dissolved from view. I heard several voices calling my name, one of which I feared.

I could see it standing before me suddenly. I was back in the darkness. My look-alike had its arms crossed over its chest and I could tell it was frowning. A shiver ran down my spine at the sight and I backed away from it. Something about this guy just freaked me out.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I won't harm you?" it asked in a bored, cold voice.

"Wh-what's going on?" I tried to sound confident, but failed miserably. "Wh-who are you?"

"You may call me Haou."

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**(Alexis POV)**

"Jaden!" several voices shouted at the same time, but mine was the loudest. I ran over to him as he collapsed to the ground, shaking. I wrapped my arms around him, afraid that he had somehow been hurt in our duel.

His beautiful molten chocolate eyes were closed and his cheeks were flushed bright red. I tore off my glove and pressed my hand onto his forehead, getting no response from the unconscious brunette. My hand would have felt better if I had just stuck it in the sun; he was burning up!

"Jay!" I exclaimed, shaking his shoulders. His head lolled around and his eyelids stayed tightly closed and motionless. I tried again, but got the same results.

"Excuse me ma'am," Tyranno said, scouting closer to Jaden and picked up the boy bridal-style. His eyebrows lifted in surprise. "He's light as a feather!" he exclaimed.

"What's his condition?" Chazz demanded.

"He's got a really high fever and he's not responding to anything," I answered quickly as Hassleberry started running towards the infirmary. Chazz nodded and sprinted off with Syrus, who had just finally come out of shock.

I paused for a brief second and tried to make sense of the situation. Jaden was healthy and fit, he wasn't sick, and (as far as I know) doesn't suffer from any fainting spells. What could have caused this?

I replayed the scene in my head for the umpteenth time. Everything had been going fine until he drew that card. Then his eyes got wide like he was scared and he put his hand to his head slowly like he had a headache. Before I could do anything, he just slumped to the floor!

_That card must have something to do with it!_ I decided, remembering my own White Veil Card from the Society of Light. I dedicated myself to search for the card that he had dropped. On my hands and knees, I searched through the grass for a couple of seconds before I found it.

Picking it up gently, as if it were a pipe bomb, I turned it around to look at it. I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

_It's just Polymerization, _I thought, examining the card. Was it me or did something seem a bit off with the coloration of the card? I glanced at it and decided that it looked slightly transparent, like it was just waiting to change. I pocketed the card with a sigh. Great, now I was hallucinating that cards could change. _What's next, a serious Jaden Yuki?_ I scoffed silently.

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The figure from the forest approached a stone building with a slight swagger in his step; he knew this was the place where the beginning of the end would start. The hidden door slid open as he approached and he walked into the old animal testing facility without hesitation.

When the door slid shut with finality, the man allowed himself to slow down. He smirked while he hooked up the old computers to his new cameras he had placed inside Jaden's dorm and in all of his usual hang-outs. If this Jaden Yuki was the real deal, not those several false alarms he had received like Zane Trusedale, than this was truly the end. If Jaden Yuki was really the _one_, then nothing would stand in his way.

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**I just seem to love to torture Jaden, don't I?**

**And when I said Zane Trusdale I meant the "evil" Zane. (Hell Kaiser)**


	3. Gotcha

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YUGIOH GX!**

**ONE OF YOU GUYS MENTIONED WANTING TO HAVE ZANE IN THE STORY, WHICH FREAKED ME OUT 'CUZ I DID HAVE HIM IN HERE... WEIRD, HUH?**

**ANYWHO, HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

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**Chapter 2**

_"Nice destroy," Mr. Shroud praised Zane from inside of their limo. "Turning you into a heel was a big success, and you're in my debt for your spiral rise to fan-favorite." _

"This, in truth, is only partially true. Oh sure, I had introduced Zane to underground dueling, but it was _you_ who told me what to do, Sir. But it resulted well enough, now Zane had been turned from his path of respectful dueling and pushed onto a much darker road."

The mediocre attempts at praise fell on deaf ears. He cleared his throat and continued with his tale.

_Zane seemed to agree with him. "Rest assured, I've needed your help this far. But," he had started, "this is where you get off." _

_"What was that?" Mr. Shroud demanded. _

_The limo came to a sudden halt and Zane glared down at him malevolently. "Beat it." _

_And with that, he shoved his manager out of the door and the limo sped off, much to the astonishment of Mr. Shroud. _

"Is that everything that happened?"

"Yes sir," Mr. Shroud replied, bowing to the man with his back turned. He was intently watching Jaden Yuki sleeping in his bed, as if waiting for something to happen.

"You have done well Shroud," the man said confidently. "We now have quite a few powerful duelists on our hands. What have you heard about Jesse Anderson? Have you had any luck getting to him yet?"

Shroud flinched at the name of the Crystal Beast wielder. The boy had proved to be a right pain in the ass when it came to bringing out the dark halves of people's souls. He and his troublesome Crystal Beasts had successfully stopped him from helping three duelists to discover their hidden identities, and still managed to avoid falling into darkness himself.

Shroud shifted uncomfortably. "He and three other duelists are transferring here this year. He has yet to stop fighting against us. Their names are Jim 'Crocodile' Crook, Axel Brodie, and Adrian Gecko… So what do you want me to do about Zane?"

There was a long silence where the man just watched Jaden Yuki start shaking and thrashing around. "He fights himself so hard," the man said absently. "We need to bring out his anger, make him hate us. Cause him pain and sorrow like he never experienced before. We'll have to send Zane to fight him."

"But how? Zane has already abandoned me, he will not exactly listen to his ex-manager," Shroud argued.

The man sighed heavily and turned to face his employee. "You may have a talent for bringing out the worst in people Shroud, but you lack insight. Can you not see that Zane has simply gone to search for a powerful deck that satisfies his dark soul? Can you truly be that blind after you've seen it happen so many times before?"

"I…" Shroud faltered.

"Jaden is Zane's only true challenge remaining. He will willingly seek out our little star and duel him with his new deck, he is after power only. Just make sure he gets this note, and I'll do the rest," the man said, withdrawing a very formal envelope from his pocket on his black jacket.

Shroud took the letter and bowed again before retreating from the bitter taste that hung in the stale air.

Shroud waited outside of his old employee's apartment. The lights were out and he couldn't hear anything within the labyrinth. The same bitterness of his master hung in the air here, only with a lesser intensity. Shroud hesitated before placing the letter under the door and slipping it into the room. The letter was a strange one indeed. Without any further thought, he strode purposefully away from the door and retreated into the safety of the shadows.

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**(Jaden POV)**

"You may call me Haou."

I blinked at the strange name. "Haou? What kind of name is that?"

The thing did not reply, just glowered at me in a cold way. Fine, I couldn't care less; this thing had officially freaked me out. "What are you exactly?" I asked it, still remaining at what I deemed a safe distance away.

"I've already told you, I am you," Haou said coldly. "Do I have to prove it to you by taking over our body or will you just accept that?"

Suddenly I didn't seem to be far enough away from this creature, so I took a few steps back for good measure. He didn't react to my movements at all. Haou just stayed cold and indifferent the entire time.

"If you're me," I said, trying to prove it wrong, "why haven't I ever heard from you before?"

"Because there was no need to appear before," Haou said tonelessly. "Can't you sense it in the air around you? There is something amiss here."

I briefly recalled the animal's absence and the sense of dread that hung about the Academy. But there was no way I was going to admit it to this guy.

Haou smirked at me again and said, "You don't have a choice Jaden, I can already hear your thoughts. I still don't think you understand. I cannot harm you if I don't wish to harm myself. You have nothing to fear in the dark."

"I'm not afraid of the dark," I objected.

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Haou replied, smirking while dark winds surrounded him. He vanished from sight and something grabbed my legs from below.

A winding, shadowy, black tendril was winding itself up my shaking leg and sucking me down into the darkness. Even as I watched, horrified, another tendril followed the first and then another one started snaking up my leg. I heard Haou chuckling in the background and saw those terrible gold eyes in the mirrors around me. "No! NO!" I screamed, pulling away from the dark masses. "Leave me alone! Get off! GET OFF!"

Haou's shape appeared in a giant shadow, towering over me, now wearing some kind of strange armor now over his shadowy form.

"Gotcha," he taunted in a cruel voice. **(1)**

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**(ZANE'S POV)**

The cool salty air of the sea brushed against my face in an appealing way as I made my way across the bright blue sea, waking up my senses. I ran my hand over my pocket for the hundredth time since last night. The words on that piece of paper had roused curiosity within me, and of course, a thirst for dominance. After a brief pause, I slipped my hand into the pocket of my black jeans and withdrew the formal letter.

_Mister Zane Trusedale,_

_If you have received this letter, than know that this has already been set in motion, and will continue on whether or not you decide to grace us with your presence. _

That line had been strange enough, but it hinted a very dark and mysterious power behind it, and that was what I wanted after all. Power.

_Please know that if you decide to appear at this… event, than your search for power will finally come to an end, as there will be no one left to question your strength. _

How had this person known what I wanted? Sure, it didn't exactly take a rocket scientist to guess, but this man worded it as though he knew exactly what to say to draw me in. He knew that I wasn't afraid of doing whatever is necessary to emerge victorious. That much was obvious by "no one left".

_If you are wondering who I am by now, be patient, as that is another mystery that very few know. Only chosen few know of my existence, and you are almost one of them. _

I kept my facial expressions cold and indifferent like normal, but I could feel a flicker of anger enter my teal eyes. What the hell did he mean "almost one of them"? That statement still stuck in my mind every time I read it, but it kept my interest. Not many people insult me twice. Oh they may do it once, but never twice.

_Yes, you have not misread what I have written. You are not ready yet, but you are very close. There is another duelist that contains much more power than you, the most perfect duelist that shall ever live, can ever hope to achieve. _

If I was "the most perfect duelist that ever shall live" why does this man say that there is another that is stronger than me? I have already crushed down that pathetic little Phoenix in the Pro Leagues; he's out of the picture.

_Do not debate over his identity, you know him very well… and yet you know nothing about him. _

I rubbed my temples in an aggravated way. I prided myself with being sharp and cold-minded, but a riddle like this was just overkill. How the hell can I know someone well and yet not know them? Just who is this guy anyway?

_You will know who he is in only a short matter of time, depending on whether or not you agree to meet him. _

Like I can just let this go. I will not stand down to any challenge that comes my way until I prove that I am the best. And I don't care who gets in my way. I've already taken down my own brother as proof.

_But he does not even know of your possible incursion, and will not find out until you appear to him. _

I smirked as I read over the word "incursion". It was strange how bluntly honest this person could be and still maintain his mysterious air. I only found one problem with this passage, how can I truly beat the best if he does not have time to prepare his deck? But this man apparently thought of that ahead of time.

_Do not think that he knows not of the duel, he just simply does not know the identity of his opponent. He shall be forewarned of this duel, and I implore you to use any of your methods you deem necessary to encourage him to 'give it his all'. _

I let a dark smirk grace my face once again. Whoever this duelist was is in for one hell of a fight.

_If you wish to accept my offer, Mister Zane Trusedale, there shall be a jet black ship waiting for you in the docks at 7am sharp tomorrow morning. The ship is entitled, "Dark Nights" and the crew will serve to your every need. If you are wondering where you are going, rest assured, it is someplace familiar--Duel Academy. You may bring along any person you wish to if it makes you feel safer- _

I still had a sneaky suspicion that this man was taunting me, but I let it go. If my hunch was right, then I was in for a clash with an old friend at Duel Academy…

_-but I doubt you will. You are 'Hell Zane' after all. When you arrive at the island, my assistants will be waiting for you at the docks. Rest assured that you will notice them at once they tend to stick out in a crowd without drawing attention to those deemed unworthy. They will lead you to my domain, where you will be given a room and time to reconstruct your 'Cyber Dark Deck'. _

I frowned slightly. I had not dueled with that deck in public yet, except for against my brother and Atticus at DA. But that island was far from civilization, so the news of my deck should not have traveled that quickly. Who is this stranger to know me inside out?

_And if you have not figured out the identity of your opponent yet, let me say that I am greatly disappointed. But knowing you, you have. I hope that my interest in your power shall not be wasted with mistakes of the young mind. After all, if two of us think the same thing, than only one of us is necessary._

_Signed, _

_Time Will Only Tell _

Yes, I had already figured out the identity of my opponent, Jaden Yuki. But to say that I didn't know him was a mendacity, I was certain that I knew Jaden Yuki better than the back of my own hand. He was simply a young, naïve, overconfident adolescence that needed to be cut down to size. And I knew just how to draw him out.

* * *

**(Alexis's POV)**

When I finally dashed into the infirmary, Jaden had already been placed on one of the hospital beds. Ms. Fontiane was checking over him and didn't even glance up when I walked in. Syrus was hovering as close to his best friend as he could, and he was practically tearing out his blue hair.

"Calm down soldier," Hassleberry sighed. "Serge will be fine. His _real_ best friend would have more faith!"

"Oh yeah?! Well his _real_ best friend would be more worried!" Syrus retorted hysterically, bouncing nervously from foot to foot. I had a feeling that I had missed most of Syrus' panic attack... Thank the gods for that

"Give it a rest you two!" I snapped at them.

"Yeah, Hassleberry, dude, you lost the friendship title to Sy last year," Atticus cried dramatically. "But I give you four stars for continuing the effort!"

Hassleberry gave my crazy brother a strange look and the rest of us sweat-dropped.

"Does anyone know what's wrong with Jaden anyway?" I asked, unable to keep the worry out of my voice. My Slifer friend was spread out on the bed and his normally happy features were replaced with a slight frown.

"I'll tell you anything my sweet Alexis!" Chazz drooled, dropping to his knees with hearts in his eyes.

Grr-eat, just what I need.

"Chazz, for the hundredth time, I'm not your 'sweety'!" I yelled at him, a vein pulsing in my forehead.

The male population in the room backed away from me and cowered against the wall. I smiled in a satisfied way before turning my attention to Ms. Fontiane, who was draping a wet towel over Jaden's forehead.

She straightened up and turned to face us before answering my question. "He's got a high fever of 102, and I'm stunned that he was even up and moving around today. Did any of you notice any strange behavior?"

Syrus and Hassleberry exchanged looks and stepped forward. "Jaden-"

"Serge-"

They glared at each other before bursting out at the exact same time, "-woke up screaming today and didn't sleep in Crowler's class and was more spacey than normal!"

The nurse blinked at their antics as I simply sighed. How Jaden put up with that every day, I had yet to figure out.

"His fever probably gave him a rather vivid nightmare, that had been known to happen," Ms. Fontiane assured the group. "And it's no shock that he collapsed like that; it's more of a shock that he didn't do it sooner."

"But he doesn't seem that pale," Syrus pointed out, a bit defensively. He probably thought it was his fault for not noticing Jaden's illness.

Right on cue, Jaden paled and cool sweat started appearing on his face.

"Great going shrimp," Chazz scoffed as Jaden started tossing around a little bit.

"Will he be ok?" Syrus asked, looking incredibly guilty.

The nurse frowned when Jaden started mumbling something under his breath, but she nodded. "He'll be fine if he just relaxes for the next few days. I'll go talk to his teachers to excuse him from his classes."

I bit back a nervous laugh when I thought of Crowler's face when he found out Jaden had managed to wiggle out of his class as Fonda waltzed away. She paused at the doorway and turned back to look at us before she walked over the threshold.

"Make sure that he doesn't strain himself while I'm gone," she ordered shortly. "I don't want him pulling one of his miraculous escapes."

We all smiled nervously. Whenever Jaden put his mind to something, he was impossibly stubborn. I highly doubted that we would be able to stop him if he was determined on breaking out of here… which was probably very likely since Jaden couldn't sit still for more than 5 seconds at a time.

"Sure Ms. Fontaine," Atticus piped up, giving her his billion dollar smile.

She nodded and left the room, leaving us with an unconscious Jaden. I shifted my eyes so that they fell back onto Jaden's troubled face. I didn't like that look on him, I was so used to his cute innocent smiles and his laughter to feel comfortable with a frown on his face. He moved his head back and forth a bit, like he was having another nightmare and let out a few words that sounded like, "No… no…."

I felt my brow furrow and I took a step closer to my feverish friend. The others were right behind me, except for Chazz, who I saw leaning against one of the bedposts. His ebony eyes were locked on the Slifer student. Jaden tossed around a bit and let out a startling shout. The boy shot straight up right as my hand touched his shoulder. I leapt back in surprise, almost knocking over Syrus and Hassleberry.

* * *

**(Jaden's POV)**

"Gotcha," Haou taunted coldly.

I felt a soft touch on my shoulder and started into reality with a bang.

"Holy fucking shit!" I screamed, shooting straight up. Stunned silence met my outcry. I let my vision settle on the figures in front of me before blushing bright red at my little cursing moment. Alexis, Syrus, and Hassleberry were all sitting right next to me, Atticus and Bastion were directly behind them and Chazz was leaning against a bedpost. They all wore the same stunned look on there faces.

I laughed nervously and took in the rest of my surroundings, which were all basically white. I shivered involuntarily at all the white, absently thinking that if I had woken up here last year, I probably would have been under the impression that I had been taken over by the Society of Light.

Still, I couldn't seem to go a year without ending up in the hospital at least once, could I?

"Well that was… colorful," Atticus said, breaking the silence. "I would accept a normal 'Hello' next time though."

"Hehe, sorry guys," I weakly apologized. "So how did I end up here?"

_Haou? Hello? Anybody there? _I called absently in my mind. Call me paranoid and anything else you can think of, I'd agree, but I just had to know for sure.

Only silence greeted me. _Phew, it was just a really freaky dream._

"You collapsed," Bastion said, eyebrows still raised. "And judging from that... graphic awakening, your fever just gave you a rather vivid dream."

I sighed in relief. These dreams were just fever-induced, not really caused by another creepy part of me named Haou. Right? Right.

_…Right?! _

"I'm sick?" I replied after a delicate pause. "But I don't feel sick. And we still have to finish our duel Alexis!"

They all sweat-dropped, but I was feeling way better. Fever-induced or not, these were only nightmares! Not some twisted kind of reality!

Thank Ra, then none of my friends were in any danger after all! I knew I was being silly and overreacting! Celebration time!

I practically jumped out of the hospital bed, feeling restless, before Ms. Fontaine walked back in and saw me standing.

"Jaden Yuki!" she yelled crossly. "Get back in bed this instant! You still have a high fever young man and you need rest!"

"Aww! But I feel fine!" I whined, although I truly did feel a bit dizzy.

"Bed! NOW!"

"But-!"

"Jaden," Alexis sighed from besides me. I turned to look at her with a puppy-dog face. She blinked a bit before a faint blush crept onto her cheeks, causing me to smile. I was winning!

"Purr-lease Alexis?! Can't we just finish our duel?"

Suddenly, strong arms grabbed me around my stomach and picked me up as if I was a ragdoll. I was too stunned initially to react as Hassleberry dropped me back down onto the hospital bed defiantly.

"Hey!" I objected a bit late. I sat back up and glanced at him crossly.

"You need some R&R before your ready to get back on the battlefield soldier!" Hassleberry laughed. "Plus we promised General Fontaine here that we'd watch over you!"

"Come on!" I said, exasperated. I allowed myself to flop back down against the bed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Jay," Syrus said in a warning tone.

"Not you too Benedict Arnold!" I complained, causing him to laugh a bit.

I could see that the nurse was watching me carefully out of the corners of her eyes. I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, but sat up again and rested my head against the wall behind me so that I could still see all of my friends. Alexis was still blushing faintly, making my gut twist in a weird way. What was this about?

"Jaden," she suddenly said, making me blush when I thought she had somehow figured out what had just happened in my stomach. I felt a slight blush of my own creeping up my face, but thankfully mistook that as my fever. She frowned and placed her cool hand against my forehead. Her touch was so soft and gentle that I felt myself start to subconsciously lean into the welcoming hand, but I caught myself just in time. What was I thinking lately? Alexis was my friend. Stupid fever.

Atticus must have noticed something because he started to jump up and down. Alexis turned back to him and removed her hand from my head, causing me to let out a tiny sigh of disappointment. I was pretty sure that it was too quiet to hear, but Atticus read my actions like a book and started cheering, producing confetti from nowhere. "Could the infamous Jaden Yuki be blushing perhaps?" he asked, waving his finger at me.

"Blushing?" I asked, pretending to act clueless. "Nah, apparently I've got a fever."

Atticus gave me a sly look which I returned with a steady, and hopefully innocent-looking, gaze.

"Could it perhaps be that you like my sis?" Atticus trilled.

"Of course I like her, she's my friend," I answered, honestly confused.

"You can't hide anything from the Master of Love Jaden! You looooooooooooooove Alexis! And you two are perfect for each other!"

"What?!" Alexis, Chazz, and I yelled at him, all for different reasons.

I glanced at Alexis out of the corner of my brown eyes and she did likewise. We both turned away, blushing bright red in embarassment.

"You're blushing!"

"Shut-it Atti!"

"My baby sister's finally found love!"

"Hey! What about me! Alexis is mine!"

"WTF?!"

"OWW!"

"Now you've done it Chazz!"

"Ahh! What are you doing with that chair, my darling?!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

"Run Chazz! Run!"

"You're next Atticus!"

"Not the face!"

"Have mercy!!" the two boys yelled out together.

"Uhh…" I said weakly, watching the events unfold with mild interest. So far, Chazz had been hit over the head with a chair and is currently running away with Atticus, who has his hands over his face and trips every few steps because he can't see properly.

Alexis was breathing heavily and her face was flushed bright red with anger. I could practically see fire dancing around her body! Syrus and Hassleberry had their jaws hanging open comically and I couldn't help but laugh. My friends were so crazy, it was awesome! I didn't even mind when my vision became a bit hazy because of my dumb fever. Wasn't laughter supposed to be the best medicine? Then it shouldn't have any trouble healing up a little temperature right?

Alexis seemed to calm down by the sound of my laughter and she unclenched her fists with a sigh and turned back to us. "Like I was saying," she continued like nothing had happened, "you dropped your Polymerization card back in the forest Jaden."

She held out my card for me to take, which I accepted gladly and reshuffled into my deck with only the slightest hesitation. Was it just me or did the card's color seem off?

* * *

**(Zane's POV)**

I flipped through each of my cards calmly, only pausing when I became aware of a presence watching me. I glanced up from the large black bed and into the dark emerald eyes of Artemis Ryoku**. **Perhaps the most stunning detail about her presence in my room was the way she ignored me completely, deliberately keeping me in the dark while she twisted a strand of her short green hair between he gloved hand. After staring each other down, I had finally had enough.

"What is it?" I demanded.

She watched me for a few more seconds before continuing, "Your opponent is ill right now and can not duel against you. You will have to wait to fight him… but my advisor insists that he can carry out the first part of your plans if you wish it so… to cause your opponent worry and to prepare himself more readily."

I glared at the young woman before me. I disliked how she always referred to me as 'you' and never included 'we' into the group; as if she didn't think he was worthy enough to be here. "That's not necessary Artemis… but why don't you tell _our_ advisor that I will consider it."

She frowned at me and sent me a look of completely distaste before hissing out, "He may have invited you here Trusedale, but you are not ready to call him 'ours'. You are not worthy as of now."

I smirked at her obvious anger and decided to play with her a bit. "What's so great about this man anyway? The impression that I am under so far is that he is like the Society of Light, only backwards."

Her green eyes flashed black for a brief second. "Don't even mention the name of that weak organization here. They met their end like they should have, at the hand of darkness."

"If I recall correctly, Jaden Yuki was the one who defeated the wave of light, and dark, if anything, is an antonym to his personality," I stated blandly, enjoying the girl's anger.

Her position shifted into one of attack. "But he's not light either. You should pick your fights more carefully Hell Zane. I am not one to be trifled with. I, unlike you, have been in this partnership for two years now."

With that, she walked out of the room, leaving hostility in the air. I smirked at the doorway. The people here were rather interesting to be around. They were so much like me; they all desired power, had strange talents for dueling, and had turned from roads of foolish respectful dueling and pursued a much truer path. The path that has brought me into their company, and I will do everything in my power to defeat Jaden, and then I'll pay Artemis a visit. I just hope that this mystery person didn't need her too much to carry out his plans.

* * *

**(1) I prefer to use the Japanese catch phrase rather than having Haou say "That's Game." or "Get your game on." That would just be weird.**

**HOW'D YA LIKE IT?**


	4. Great Escape!

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YUGIOH GX!**

**JUST A REMINDER, I'M PUTTING UP PREVIEWS FOR ALL OF MY STORIES ON MY MAIN PAGE. CHECK THEM OUT! n.n**

* * *

**Chapter 3 **

"Well Artemis, if you're sure," Shroud said impatiently, leaning against the cold stone wall. Artemis smiled sinisterly before turning away. She paused just before she entered her own room and looked back at Shroud devilishly.

"Oh, I'm very sure this will work," Artemis smirked. "Matters of the heart have always been my specialty."

"What do you mean by that?" Shroud said curiously. Artemis laughed a silvery, hair-raising maniacal laugh. She made to close her door, but not before Shroud said, "You don't want Zane to steal all of your glory."

She froze and gave him a harsh glare before entering with a slamming door. She picked up her cell phone idly, dialing the PDA of her little grunt. The phone rang exactly three times before it was picked up.

"Hello?" the voice said on the other end. It was very calm and feminine with a hint of ice behind it. Artemis smiled when she saw the blue eyes of her assistant pop into view.

"Hello, I have a job for you," Artemis smirked. The eyes on the other end of the line glittered mischievously.

"Who?" the girl asked.

"Jaden Yuki."

"How?"

Artemis leaned back onto her bed idly. "The usual of course."

"Got it Artemis," the teen said before the line went dead.

* * *

**(Jaden's POV)**

I sighed loudly, staring at the white ceiling of the hospital in a bored way. The seats next to me were unoccupied seeing as my friends were in class. I really hated this. It was sooooooo boring! There was no one to talk to, the nurse had already threatened to strap me to the bed if I got up again, and I felt fine!

I sighed again before rolling over on my side to try and get some rest. I was a bit hesitant, thinking of the dreams, but allowed myself to relax when I remembered that they weren't real. With another heavy sigh, I fell into the land of dreams...

I was back. He was standing right in front of me with that cold look and the gold eyes stared down at me from all directions. The black tendrils started to wrap their way up my legs again and I couldn't break free no matter what I did. I felt like they were strangling the life out of me as my feelings generally dipped towards anger and frustration over being stuck here in the first place. "Get OFF!" I hollered at the tendrils, trying to tear them off of me. They snacked up to my chest and pinned my arms onto my sides, cutting into my skin. I cried out in pain and horror as the darkness threatened to overwhelm me and closed my eyes, bracing myself for the end...

"KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

"Ahh!" I screeched at the voice of my duel-spirit. I struggled vainly against the white tendrils that bound me in place, gasping for breath before my brain processed what was going on. I slowly took in the hospital wing and my white sheets that strangled me like a straightjacket.

"Kuri?" Winged Kuriboh chirped worriedly, obviously sensing my terror. He nuzzled my cheek gently until my breathing evened out.

"Thanks Kuriboh, I'll be alright," I whispered. I glanced around my white prison quickly, Ms. Fontaine was nowhere in sight. Perfect. If all I had to do in here was sleep just to have _that _dream, then I was so out of here.

With slightly shaking hands, I undid my blanket's death grip and removed the washcloth that had miraculously stayed on my forehead throughout that ordeal. I quickly assessed the situation again before bolting through the automatic doors.

Unfortunately for me, that was the exact moment Ms. Fontaine walked in. She barely registered my body as I sped past her, determined to get away. I saw her hair actually fly back because I was going so fast! Not bad for a sick guy, huh?

"JADEN YUKI GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE I SEDATE YOU!" she screamed at me, waving something that looked suspiciously like a needle in her hands as she took up the chase.

"Aw Ra!" I exclaimed, making the word into a curse to avoid more trouble. She ran after me, an entire hallway's length away. Good, now if I could just get into the forest...

I rounded a corner sharply and crashed right into another third year student. All I saw was wide blue eyes before I fell on top of her and pressed against her.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed on the way down before glancing up. She turned an interesting shade of pink and her sapphire eyes sparkled a bit. Something stabbed in my heart when I looked at her surprised face, but it wasn't exactly painful... it felt strange... almost like a longing...

"JADEN YUKI!" Fonda Fontaine hollered, nearing my corner and dragging me from my thoughts. "SOMEONE STOP HIM!"

"Crap!" I exclaimed, pulling the girl to her feet. She looked to be in a daze.

"That's you isn't it?" she asked me.

"Not the time, maybe later!" I shouted, starting to bolt again. I was surprised when her hand ensnared my wrist.

"You don't look like you're feeling well," the girl continued. "Shouldn't you let Fonda help you?"

"No thanks and if you don't let go then I'll drag you!" I rushed, pushing my legs to their limit. I felt the girl stumble behind me at my sudden movement and I found my hand wrap around her wrist instead to steady her. Soon I was dragging her through the halls and out the door with Fonda hot on my trail.

"Whoa! Slow down dude! I only have two legs here!" the girl exclaimed, nearly tripping over her own two feet. I ignored her and pushed into the trees, much to the astonishment of the students in the courtyard. "Hey! Where're you taking me?!"

"It's your fault for not letting go!" I panted, winding through the trees on memory. Where was the well? Left... Right... another right. "There it is!"

She captured the well with her brilliant eyes before giving me a perplexed look. I sat down on the lip and glanced through the trees. No sign of the crazy needle-wielding nurse. We were safe.

The girl had fallen onto her butt and was currently taking in her surroundings warily. Her eyes finally focused on me just as another pang entered my heart. What the heck was this? Some new fever thingy?

"So I take it you're Jaden Yuki," the girl stated, brushing locks of her short wavy black hair out of her face.

"The one and only," I answered with a huge smile. "Sorry for crashing into you by the way. I didn't mean to."

She waved it off with her tan hand. "It's not a big deal Jaden. Heck, I usually fall over my own two feet without someone helping."

I laughed when she said this and she turned pink again. Was she sick too? "Hey... umm..."

"Driana," the girl answered. "My name's Driana Danchou."

"Thanks. Are you sick Driana? You keep turning pink..." I asked her.

"No, but _you_ are. Why'd you run?" Driana muttered at me. She stood up and brushed the leaves off of her Obelisk skirt. "And more importantly, where did you take me?"

I froze momentarily when the reason for my escape flew back to my head. Those _nightmares_! Instead of opening up to this totally random stranger, I intelligently answered, "I got bored is all."

She face-vaulted. "You dragged me all the way out here just because you got BORED?!"

"No," I responded like it was the simplest thing in the world. "I dragged you out here because you didn't let go."

She paused with her index finger extended, as if she as just about to "tsk" me. She put her hands down and threw out her arms to the sky. "You got me there Jay."

Driana promptly fell onto her back and stared up at the clouds with an audible sigh. A few strands of her hair fell out of place, making her seem like a fairytale princess. I once again felt that longing. What is going on with me lately?

"You know you can just head back," I reminded her, placing myself next to her athletic body. She closed her eyes and pushed her gentle hands behind her head.

"Yeah, I know Jay," Driana smiled. "I'd rather stay here with you though." My heart skipped a beat and I felt my face flush. Whoa, stupid fever strikes again. "You're just about the only interesting person on the island."

"That's not true," I said after regaining control over my face. "There are tons of nice people here; you just have to know where to look."

"Well then, I guess I finally looked in the right place huh Jay?" she smirked, opening those deep eyes to stare directly at me. I felt my chest begin to constrict and my arms wanted to move and embrace her... even kiss her?! What the heck! I thought I liked Alexis! Wait, I don't like her in that way either! She's just a friend! Aarrgghh! TOO MUCH THINKING!

I felt like taking the nearest branch and beating these thoughts out of my head with it, but Driana would probably see that as odd and bring me back to the infirmary. So I resisted my insane impulse. I shifted a bit so that I was farther away from this enchanting... STOP IT! DIE BAD THOUGHTS! DIIIIIIIIEEEEE!

"Are you okay Jaden?" Driana wondered, concerned. She leaned over me partially, trying to feel my forehead. "You've got the weirdest look on your face just now..."

I jumped out from under her, fumbling for an excuse. Fortunately for me, I overexerted myself and collapsed back down to the forest floor. She stared at me for a full minute before helping me back into a sitting position. "I feel dizzy..." I said, sounding stupid even to my own ears.

"I told you, you shouldn't have run," Driana sighed, hoisting me up to my feet. "Now Ms. Fontaine is probably going to chain you to the bed."

"She already threatened to," I admitted hazily. Okay, focus. Walking, it's not that hard Jaden. Just put one foot in front of the other... that's it...

"So what're you sick with?" Driana questioned me curiously. "I've never heard of you getting sick before, and there's a lot of talk about you."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Why?"

She sweat-dropped. "Jaden, you've saved the world twice. Why _wouldn't _they be talking about you? And there are about fifty different girls you're rumored to be secretly dating right now in my dorm." She rolled her pretty eyes dramatically.

"Huh? Why? All I did was do what I thought was right... why would they say that I'm dating them?" I asked, completely flabbergasted.

"Hmm... let's see," Driana sighed. "You've got a great personality, you're strong, you're kind, you never give up, you just succeeded in making a new friend in—like—five minutes, and you're cute—" Driana covered her mouth quickly as she said her last word and my stomach somersaulted nervously. I didn't want another creepy fan-girl, let alone an army of fan-girls! I already have Blair thank-you-very-much! Then the fact that _she_ said that caught up with me, making my face heat up again. WHAT IS GOING ON?!

"So... I've never seen you around; do we have any classes together?" I cut in, changing the subject.

She seemed relieved for the random question, nodding a bit too thoroughly. "Yeah, we have Ms.—I mean—Dr. Crowler's class together. I sit next to Alexis Rhodes most of the time. She's pretty nice to me."

I struggled to pick out one of the miniscule times that I had not slept through Dr. Crowler's class. I managed to find one and did remember a girl with black hair and blue eyes sitting next to Alexis. Her hair blocked most of her face when she was writing down notes though, so I had always focused on Alexis instead... Wait, why was I staring at her again? Why does my chest feel all... fuzzy? Does that mean I was checking Alexis out? NOOOOOOO, I was just wondering how she stayed awake, that's all.

"Jay?" Driana sharply interrupted my musings. "What's wrong? The only time I've ever seen you quiet is when you fall asleep in Crowler's class."

"I'm fine Dri," I lied. Since when did my feelings get all messed up?

_Since the nightmares_, a small voice in my head answered.

_Since the fever,_ I argued.

"Dri?" she repeated.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Just a nickname. Do you mind?"

"Nah, it's cool," Dri shrugged. The soft sound of my feet brushing against the grass stopped and was replaced by cement.

"What the—?" I gasped. "Where'd the forest go?"

"I'm taking you back Jay," Driana announced. "Didn't you notice that when we were walking?"

"Umm... no?"

"Jay—den," she sighed, exasperated. "What am I going to do with you?"

I gave her my best puppy-dog face. "Let me go?"

"No."

Darn it. That always worked on Alexis. Why was that? She always turns red when I do...

I was tugged reluctantly into the hospital where Ms. Fontaine immediately pushed me down on a bed and took my temperature.

"103," she said smugly. "You need rest, and if you can't sit still on your own, I _will_ sedate you **and** chain you to this bed. Got it?"

"Got it," I said weakly. Note to self; don't get the person who has access to various tranquilizers angry.

She turned towards Driana curiously. "Will you watch over him for me while I go get some fever medication please?"

Driana bowed slightly to the older woman. "Yes Ma'am."

They watched her back retreating into her office to fetch medicine in an awkward silence. I scowled at the door blankly. I hated hospitals, although I could never really fathom _why_...

"Glaring at the door won't make it lock," Driana smiled.

I sent her a bewildered look. She rolled her eyes at me and then stood up to run a rag under water for me. I started to slowly inch my way towards the edge of this mattress when she turned her back to me.

"Don't even think about it," she snapped lightly. I froze in mid-scoot.

Ms. Fontaine returned and I knew I was beat. I let out a loud moan unhappily and flopped back down on the bed so hard I saw stars for a sec. My two nurses shook their heads and went about tending me. I don't get it, I feel fine! So why are they so worried? Sure, I'm tired, but that's just cuz of stupid nightmares.

Ms. Fontaine curtly rolled up my sleeve, still angry about my escape, and took out a large shot. I jerked my hand away from her when something flashed before my eyes almost too quickly for me to decipher.

_"It's just a few tests Jay, it won't hurt baby. Mommy will make it all better. You want to stop having nightmares don't you?" _

I gave her a very offended look almost unconsciously while she stared at me in shock. I had a strong feeling that whatever had happened next wasn't good, and it was too much of a coincidence that my nightmares were mentioned. But why couldn't I remember what was going on? Just a vague image of my mom and a man in a white coat with a needle...

I realized I had to speak to make them stop glancing at me. "I thought you said you wouldn't sedate me!" I said in my best offended voice.

The other two girls relaxed. "I'm not Jaden," Fonda promised me. "This is just strong fever medicine, although it will most likely knock you out."

I tensed. The very reason why I left was because I didn't want to sleep, so why would I want to take something that will make me dream?

I didn't draw away this time when she tried to give me the medicine. I winced when my skin was pierced but stayed still for the most part. Driana wasn't looking at the shot, she appeared a bit green. Ms. Fontaine patched up the small hole with a brightly colored band-aid over a cotton ball.

"There, now that wasn't so difficult Jaden, now was it?"

I didn't answer, because I was out cold, dreams and all. Only one thing echoed in my mind:

_"You want to stop having nightmares, don't you?" _

* * *

**(Driana's POV) **

Ms. Fontaine was rolling up Jaden's sleeve currently and trying to give him a shot. He suddenly pulled away from her sharply and fixed her with the nastiest glare I've ever seen. I even almost took a step back! Plus this was not something that occurred normally with Jaden Yuki, he was always so happy-go-lucky it was sick. Then his eyes softened into mildly offended and he muttered something about being sedated. He allowed her to give him the medicine after a brief pause.

Now his eyes were half-lidded; the medicine was obviously taking affect. He shifted slightly and then was lost in a land of sleep and out of my grasp temporarily. The nurse took the rag from my limp hands and rested it on his forehead. Despite everything, I managed to make my face appear worried.

"I didn't know you and Jaden were friends Driana," Ms. Fontaine said warmly. I gave her a charming smile.

"I didn't either until he ran into me," I replied seemingly happily. "And I think that I might like him..."

"So soon?" Ms. Fontaine gasped. "You've only known him for a maybe half an hour!"

I forced myself to blush. "I know. I've always admired his courage and kindness before, but now that I've met him... I think that I might just be falling for him."

"You might have some competition then," Ms. Fontaine muttered. My heart raced. Did she have the information I needed? Could it really be that easy to find this mystery girl?

"What do you mean?" I asked sincerely, giving her a little painful push.

Ms. Fontaine paused, looking confused. I let a shadow of a smirk appear on my lips. "I think Alexis Rhodes has a crush on him as well," she relented finally. "She made quite a fuss when her brother mentioned it... and Jaden was red as his jacket along with Alexis."

"Now that he's asleep, we can finally have some peace, huh Driana?" Ms. Fontaine joked, heading back to her office. "I guess I'm lucky you didn't have your last class today. I probably wouldn't have found him otherwise, thank you." She closed her office door quietly, being careful not to wake the slumbering teen.

I slowly took out my phone and dialed her number silently. She picked up after three rings, like always. Only two words passed my sharp lips. _"Alexis Rhodes." _

* * *

**(Zane's POV) **

I watched the monitors with an amused smile, focusing on the hospital wing were a sick Jaden Yuki had just escaped from. I stood there, scanning the other cameras until I found him again, only this time he wasn't alone. There was another third year student with him, one of my old friends at that. Her name was Driana Danchou and was not what she appeared. She acted innocent on the outside, but she was truly very calculated and cold when it came to dueling. She carried a very good mask for dueling, but I occasionally wondered if there was another purpose for this mask.

Especially because of the way Jaden was acting around her. I couldn't help but get suspicious when Jaden started to lean in closer to the girl before just as suddenly shifting away. Jaden Yuki was blind to anything related to love, and this definitely wasn't him. That and the fact that I had discovered him and Alexis had a thing for each other... even if they hadn't realized it yet.

But this was good for what I needed Jaden to do. His confusion and my plans will only cause him more stress. My duel with him will be the perfect outlet for all of those emotions, and I know Jaden plays better when he duels with his feelings. So why not give him a few more powerful ones just to make it more fun?

I smirked malevolent at the screens when I heard the door open behind me. I came face-to-face with Artemis, who appeared elated about something. She stopped dead when she saw me and glanced up at the hospital wing where Driana had successfully returned Jaden. "What are you doing here Trusedale?"

"I'm assessing my prey," I evenly replied without batting an eyelid. "What are _you_ doing in here Ryoku?"

"None of your business," Artemis snarled. She started to walk out of the room, but I grabbed her shoulder.

"Why don't you play messenger and tell your master that I'm ready to start my plan," I coolly told her.

She stiffened considerably. "He's not my master you fool. He's my advisor... my manager if you will. I have no master."

"Yes, yes. Just keep telling yourself that little Arty," I pushed her. She glared at me with pure hatred in those emerald irises.

"Just wait Trusedale. When your plan fails and you become disposable, you'll regret these little conversations. It's not smart to make me your enemy," she hissed before flouncing out of the room. I smirked at her retreating back. It was strange how similar our thoughts were just then.

I turned back to the screens. Driana was watching Jaden, who just had received some kind of a shot and was out cold. After a short time, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number quickly. I heard three sharp rings echo through the hallway behind me. I turned back around. No, it couldn't be... could it? I've known Driana for three years. She can't be working for Artemis. It must be coincidence.

I shook it off and glared at the screens with renewed vigor, searching for my targets. I smirked once more when I saw my last one sitting impatiently in class, constantly shooting heated gazes at the clocks. Yes, Jaden would give me more than his all when I capture the three of them. I just need to let things play out for some time before I snatch his world and tear it out from under his naïve feet.

* * *

**OOOOH! EVIL ZANY AND ATRY! **

**YAY! LOVE TRIANGLE! AxJxD**

**YES, JADEN IS HAVING BREIF FLASHBACKS. **

**THANK YOU FOR BEARING WITH ME THROUGH MY LOOOOOOOOOOOONG MONTHS OF NO UPDATES, I HAD TERRIBLE WRITER'S BLOCK!**


	5. Kidnapped!

**SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN FOREVER, BUT YOU'LL LOVE THIS CHAPTER (I HOPE) AND THEN YOU'LL ATTACK ME!**

**(I'm halfway done with the next chapter of Without You, so don't kill me for that either please! I'll try and post New Years Day!)**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YUGIOH GX!**

**(SCREAMS)**

**THEY'RE GOING TO KILL ME! THEY'RE GOING TO KILL ME!**

**Everyone: Probably.**

**(IS RUNNING AWAY NOW)**

**Chapter 4 **

_The world must hate me. My best friend is sicker than an elephant with a head cold and I'm stuck listening to the sound of nails on a chalkboard, compliments of Dr. Crowler. Not to mention the entire school seems to know about Jaden's collapse and now there's a million different rumors going around about why it happened. None of them are bad; just mostly involve triadic dueling accidents or something. _

"I heard that Alexis Rhodes had to give him CPR,"whispered a small voice behind her.

"WHAT?!" she burst out, twisting to face the gossiping girls. Their expressions were basically like "aw crap". She was suddenly aware that the class had gone deathly silent at her outburst. Bowing her head apologetically, Alexis sat turned to the front in a huff. How dare they go around saying things like that!

_Although you wouldn't mind doing it,_ her conscious told her.

_That's not true! Wait, I'm arguing with myself. This is stupid. _

But her own words caused her to turn bright scarlet. Was it true? Would she mind if she did that? Of course not, she told herself. _I feel that way because I'd be saving his life, that's all. This feeling is just... err... relief that I could have saved him. _

_By pressing your lips against his! _

Alexis sighed audibly and shot another heated glare at the clock hanging in the back of the class. She caught Chazz and Syrus doing this, although Chazz would never admit to it later. Dang it, why was class so long? Jaden was probably bored out of his mind now. Alexis absently wondered if he had tried to escape yet and tackled that problem instead of doing her notes. She came with the conclusion, that yes, Jaden Yuki would slip out some way or another. So she spent the rest of the class period devising several different places he would hide and how they would drag him back.

**_DING! DING! DIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNG! _**

The bell finally rang and the Gx gang shot out of their prison like lightning, leaving dust in their trails... and Chazz who was 'too cool' to run like they were being chased by a hoard of demented fan-girls just to check up on some sick Slacker. But his pace was quicker than usual, Alexis observed with a grin, looking back at the black-haired teen.

She sprinted to the front of the group and barged through the hospital doors (even though they're automatic, she must be magic) expecting to see a fuming Fonda and an empty hospital bed. So what she saw couldn't have shocked her any more. Jaden was sprawled out peacefully on the hospital bed and a pretty Obelisk third-year was sitting next to him, HOLDING HIS EFFING HAND!

"Excuse me!" Alexis huffed, suddenly feeling anger and annoyed at the same time while her heart constricted painfully. "What are you doing?!"

The girl turned to her, casting her sapphire gaze on the Obelisk Queen. "I'm watching over my friend."

"Driana?" Alexis asked after a pause. She usually sat next to her in Dr. Crowler's class. "What are you doing here?"

Driana let go of Jaden's hand and brushed her short black hair out of her face. "To make an incredibly long story short, I didn't have class today and Jaden ran into me when he escaped from here. He dragged me into the forest when I didn't let go of him and we stayed out there for a while and talked until he started to get weak again. I brought him back and Ms. Fontaine gave him some medicine for his fever, which knocked him out cold. Oh, and sedatives were involved... a lot." She smiled up at them innocently, drinking in their stunned expressions.

"But why were you holding his hand?" Atticus input. Alexis felt that strange feeling surface again when that was mentioned. Yeah, she had no right to hold Jaden's hand! Only she could! Wait...

Driana turned a delicate shade of pink and muttered something about calming him down from a nightmare, which only succeeded in making Alexis flush angrily. Atticus watched with interest while secretly shouting out in his mind "LOVE TRIANGLE". Oh, how wrong can he be...?

"Mmmff," Jaden said as he squirmed on the bed, starting to wake up. The others quieted until Jaden was looking up at them rather owlishly. His eyes were overly bright with fever, but he appeared fine otherwise. "What's up?" he tiredly wondered.

Alexis felt her annoyance peak. _What's up?! You have some explaining to do! Why the heck was some random girl holding your hand! Or better yet, why are you making me feel so annoyed! YOU BETTER FESS UP JADEN YUKI OR I'LL BEAT YOU WITH MY BROTHER'S UKELELE! _

Instead of saying that, Alexis cracked her knuckles and said, "Now what's this I hear about you running away?"

Jaden sweat-dropped nervously.

* * *

Two concussions later, okay not! Try three days later, Jaden was actually released from the hospital when his fever broke, but the Slifer student still seemed off. There were shadows under his eyes to suggest sleepless nights, but none of his friends, including Driana and Alexis, could get him to tell them what was wrong.

"I'm fine, what're you talking about Lex?" Jaden would say, giving her his goofy smile before quickly changing the subject.

"Jaden, what's wrong with you?" Alexis whispered to herself quietly. Thinking that he was keeping secrets from her wounded the blonde more than they should have. She didn't understand it, but it hurt when she thought that Jaden didn't trust her enough to tell her. Did Syrus know? They were best friends after all, so if anyone knew, it'd be him.

"Hey Alexis," Syrus smiled, walking up to her in high spirits like he usually did. "Why'd you PDA me?"

She hesitated, unsure of how to continue. Then she dismissed those thoughts with a wave of her hand. "Syrus, have you noticed anything off with Jaden lately?"

The boy's demeanor changed dramatically when his best friend was mentioned. His shoulders drooped and his eyes saddened instantaneously. "Yeah, I've noticed."

"And?" Alexis prompted, leaning against the lighthouse with relief that she just wasn't being paranoid. His reply came out in a rush, like he had kept it pent up for years instead of three days.

"He's been acting weird around Driana and you and he isn't eating as much as he usually does and he hasn't dueled anyone in a long time and he keeps sneaking out at night and he hasn't been sleeping and half of his smiles are fakes and now he's avoiding the both of you and—!"

"Sy!" Alexis exclaimed, covering her ears. He blushed scarlet.

"Sorry, I'm just worried about him. He won't tell me what's wrong," Syrus muttered apologetically.

Something processed in her brain, making her heart constrict painfully again. "Wait, what do you mean Jaden's avoiding me?"

"And Driana," Syrus added, bewildered. "Yeah, he has, haven't you noticed?"

Alexis paused to think. True enough, she had not spoken to Jaden since he had been released, and even in those days in the hospital wing, Jaden had seemed a bit awkward around her. He constantly fidgeted around on the hospital bed and never really looked her in the eye. She had pinned that on the fact that he was trying to figure out another way to escape or he was still tired.

"I didn't really think about it, I mean—it never crossed my mind that Jaden Yuki would even be capable of avoiding someone..."

"What did you do?" Syrus couldn't help but ask. "Did you stab him with your pencil or something in class?"

"I don't know Syrus, I don't know."

* * *

The other victim of Jaden's cold shoulder sighed as her feet pounded over the forest floor, weaving in and out of the trees half-heartedly. Her normally innocent sapphire eyes were cold and sharp with repressed frustration and confusion.

_"Tell me, sweet, sweet child, why don't you have Jaden yet?" _

_Driana cast her eyes away. She didn't know. "I... I don't know." _

In aggravation, her fist connected with a nearby tree venomously, making the bark splinter. For a fraction of a second, she felt pain stab through her now injured hand, but then it vanished when her anger resurfaced.

_"Do I honestly have to remind you?" she hissed, tracing a finger across Driana's collarbone. "Do I have to tell you what you are?" Her hand pressed against the flesh, wiping away cover-up until a small mark appeared on the teen's skin. It appeared to be a white symbol of some sorts with red just around the edges. _

**_(AN: Think Wicked Text Doctrine people) _**

She finally made it out of the deep forest and stormed into the girl's dorm, making some people start away from her when they felt the temperature around her literally plummet to ice. Her hands, balled into fists, touched her collarbone tenderly before she scoffed. Like she needed to be reminded.

_"I know what I can do!" Driana snarled, pulling herself away from Artemis' cold grasp. "It doesn't work on him!" _

_"Now why would that be, dear child, if it has worked on countless others, whether or not they are in love?" _

_"I..." Driana hesitated. She couldn't say what her theory was; it would only get her into trouble. She herself was incredibly repulsed by her thoughts, that she could disregard their advisor in this way. He was always right when it came to these things, every time. _

_Except with Zane, he isn't the one we have searched for. But why does he believe that _**Jaden Yuki**_ is the one? I... I don't even think he has darkness in his heart. He can't be... him. That's why my power isn't working very well, because he's not one of us, I'm sure of it! _

Unaware of her surroundings, she slammed the door to her room and stormed onto the balcony in her stupor, gazing at the stars, wanting to see the familiar sight of the blue comet. She sighed when only the bleak stars reached her vision.

_"I know why child," Artemis interrupted Driana's silent battle. Her apprentice jolted up, caught off-guard by this sudden dialogue. She didn't respond, simply waited for Artemis to continue like she always did. "It's because Jaden Yuki is who we've been searching for. That's the only logical explanation. A being like him would have a small immunity to what you can do, no? Think about it. If everything we remember is true, if everything we've seen has a meaning, doesn't that make sense?" _

_Driana hesitated. Artemis did have a valid point as well... but... Jaden Yuki? Dark? _

_"What should I do?" Driana whispered helplessly. "I can't—" _

_"Hush," Artemis commanded, twisting a leave between her long fingers. "You'll just have to push harder." _

_"But that's dangerous! It could give him a—!" _

_"I know, if he's not the one it will. And if he's not, we don't need him do we? He'll only become another issue, like Jesse Anderson has become. Do you understand Danchou?" Artemis coolly reminded her. _

_Maybe she wasn't right. Am I truly here or do I belong back there? What are we all if not what we appear to be?_ Driana thought while placing her hand on her concealed marking. _What am I if not a monster? _

Her stomach churned with the results of the last time that had happened, the only time she had needed it to get her way. _Normally all I have to do is wear a skirt a little too small and a shirt just a slight bit too tight and they'll be drooling over me. All it takes is a bat of an eyelash and I can have them streaking around the campus if I wanted too. But why is it that this time the sweet, ignorant, and innocent play isn't working? Is he really that oblivious? He's the second person that I've had to use my little gift for, and even that's not working!! What makes him so impervious to me? WHAT?! _

_...I won't push him harder unless it's absolutely necessary. I won't let that happen. Not again. _

**(Jaden POV) **

Confusion was no stranger to me. Heck, I spend more of my time confused than I do dueling! But I've never been this lost in my entire life, and that's saying something! Sure, I've figured out that I feel _something_ for both Alexis and Driana, but I can't figure out _what!_

Whenever they are both near me at the same time, I can use my newly found acting abilities to avoid any awkward situations that would occur thanks to my perpetual confusion. But whenever I'm alone with one of them... it all turns to blah. But it just feels so DIFFERENT when I'm with one or the other! It doesn't make any sense!

Okay, I suck at explaining things... I've just lost myself. Okay Jaden, time to review your... um... feelings?

Whatever.

Anyway, whenever I'm alone with Alexis, like when the others had class two days ago and she didn't, my face always gets hot and my heart feels like it's taken up the habit of practicing the beat for a hard metal band. I always get the strangest urges to make her laugh or even to hold her hand! What's up with _that?_

I mean, come on, Alexis is my _friend._ Or my fiancé, whatever that means. I should probably look it up one of these days...

And whenever she blushes, laughs, or even _smiles_, I feel like I'm about to explode with happiness! I've caught myself staring at her a few times in class, but thank Ra that no one's noticed it. Except Driana. I'm pretty sure she sees me, and her expression always makes that weird pain come into my heart.

I can still only describe it as longing, its not even lustful or anything, its just plain weird. She acts more nervous around me than Alexis does though. What does that mean? Does she have these strange pains too? Most of the time my sentences seemed to get lost on their way from my brain to my mouth when I'm talking with her, making me sound more like the moron Chazz keeps saying I am.

Great, now I'm babbling.

I felt a heavy sigh erupt past my chapped lips, trying to pry my eyes open unsuccessfully. I know I had to sleep eventually, but every time I tried to I would always fall into that dark place where those vines would drain away my vitality under the watch of those chilling eyes...

And the lack of sleep was starting to affect my appetite. I haven't been hungry in so long that I'm just eating sparingly to keep Syrus from freaking out. I'm actually doing my homework now, since there's nothing better to do at one in the morning, and my grades are finally up to B's. Like I care.

If my friends found out about that they would definitely figure out that something was wrong instead of just having mild suspicions. And those dreams are something I just don't want to talk about. Plus, it's not like there's anything they can do about them, so why should I bother to worry them?

My eyelids feel really heavy right now, but I don't want to sleep. Sleeping is bad!

... I never thought that I'd say that in my entire life.

The grass tickled against my hands pleasantly and the ocean calmly sent its waves into shore below my spot, singing its enchanting lullaby. But that doesn't matter, I can't fall asleep. Not here... not...

And I was out.

_"Jaden!" Alexis shouted, grabbing onto my wrist a pulling me away from the towering figure of Haou. Her normally shining hazel eyes were wide with fear while her bare hands continued to pull at my skin. "I have to save you from darkness!" I started to follow her, but something grabbed my other arm and pulled me back. I turned slightly and gazed into the sapphire eyes of Driana. _

_"Jaden!" Driana begged, tugging me back towards the darkness. "I have to save you from the light!" _

_The light?! My wide eyes scanned towards Alexis and I felt my blood run cold. Towering over her was a large eye with purple vines spreading out from it. It narrowed as if happy to see me, issuing a childish feminine voice. "Jaden, why won't you play with me?" _

With a cry of mortal fear, I jumped up landing nimbly on my feet. Only the ocean and rustling of leaves met my ears. With a sigh, I sat back down on the dry grass allowing my knees to tuck into my chest with my arms wrapped around them. What did that dream mean? That if I follow Alexis I'll be a minion of the light and if I follow Driana I'll have to face Haou?

... And why did that voice sound so mind-boggling familiar?! I focused on it, amplifying the memory while my subconscious tried to throw out some random memory. All I received was static. Grr-eat!

"Jaden?"

I jumped when I heard her musical voice combine with the natural symphony occurring around me. I had not been expecting anyone to come out here so late at night. Her skirt rustled as she lowered herself down until she was sitting next to me, gazing into my eyes. I saw only concern hovering in her hazel ones.

"Hey Lex," I smiled, the words still floating easily off my lying tongue. I've grown used to not feeling guilt in my lies anymore. "What's up?"

My cheerfulness only seemed to concern her more. Her pretty brow furrowed and her hands balled into fists. I wonder what was going on in her brilliant head. "Jaden... why are you avoiding me?"

I blinked, taken aback by her abruptness. Sure I knew Alexis wasn't one to beat around the bush but this forwardness was still surprising. My answer was already on the tip of my tongue before my tired brain took in any of this. "What are you talking about Lex? I'm not avoiding you."

"Yes you are," the Obelisk insisted, leaning in closer to me in an intimidating fashion. All this succeeded in doing was making my thought process come to a grinding halt at how near she was. I could feel her cool breath against my undoubtedly blushing face and her long eyelashes just barely touched my nose. "Don't lie to me Jaden... it hurts me."

She whispered that last part, but I still heard it. The guilt that had taken a leave over the past few days suddenly blossomed back into existence at her words. I was hurting her. My own heart seemed to strangle itself as I watched her eyes reveal all of her fears and worries fight before me. I knew that my eyes showed her no honesty within them, breaking my own heart when I knew I couldn't change it.

"I don't want to hurt you," I replied honestly, finally forcing myself to look away from those betrayed eyes. I shifted my hand uncomfortably, coming in contact with a foreign object. I didn't have to look down to know it was her hand. Alexis did not draw away from my contact; she swept up my hand instead and put it in a death-grip.

"Then please Jaden, tell me what's wrong," she begged me, a hint of tears blooming in her attractive eyes. She cupped both her hands around my one and placed them between us, never losing sight of my confused eyes. "I hate seeing you like this."

"Alexis," my voice came out soft and gentle. "There's nothing wrong with me. I promise you that if there ever is something wrong, you'll be the first person to know."

"What good is a promise coming from a liar," she rebuked, gripping my hand tighter.

"It's worth the same as your foolish question," I replied a bit frostily. My tone suggested I was annoyed with the conversation. She gazed up at me, offended and shocked at the cruelty hinted behind those insincere words.

"You know Jaden," she said, not really meeting my eye for the first time that night, "I think you're someone... who can be very cold." With that last statement, she flounced off at a slightly fast pace. I took my head in my hands. What had I done? This was all becoming so helplessly jumbled!

Wait, did she say _cold_?! I'm not cold!

"Alexis!" I called after her, standing up to face the blue Queen. "Wait!" She hesitated briefly, not facing me, before starting to walk away again. "I'm sorry Alexis, I didn't mean that," I said, sprinting to her side and placing my hand on her shoulder. She brushed me off angrily. "Come on Lexis!"

"Jaden," she snapped. "If you want to avoid me, than just leave me alone. I won't bother you any more."

Then I did something that I would later reflect on being totally out-of-character. My eyes narrowed dangerously at her words and I grabbed on to her forearm tightly, whipping her around to face me. Our noses touched and she winced at the pressure I was putting on her arm. "Never say that," I whispered, sounding almost alien to my own ears. I had never heard my voice so angered and hurt in my life. "Alexis, you're my friend. I'd never want you to stay away from me. Understand that, never. I lo—"

We both froze. That last sentence just slipped out, I don't even know where it came from. It was just suddenly exposed and out in the open, but I wasn't sure of what that meant. She didn't know what to make of it either; I could tell by the confusion that she now shared with me in her eyes. What did I mean by lo—? Love? Did I mean I loved her like friends do or like a sister or even... like a significant other? I didn't know. Ra, how can one and a half simple words change everything?!

I let go of the stunned Alexis and—with one last glance at her frozen face—walked slowly back to my dorm. Now I was ten times more confused than what I was twenty minutes ago. Why did I almost say I loved her? I also felt like a blunt knife was slowly digging into my chest at her lack of reaction. Shouldn't she have said _something_?

**(END POV)**

Unbeknownst to the two stunned friends, they were being watched by a teen clad in a red Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. His grin was so large that it was practically splitting his face in two. "I knew it! Nothing escapes the Master of Love!" Atticus Rhodes whispered in excitement. Then he got all teary-eyed and said quietly, "Little Jaden is finally growing up right before my eyes! I can't wait until I can call him little bro!"

Alexis, still frozen in shock, could only think over Jaden's last words of departure. "I lo—"

WHAT DID THAT MEAN?! Was that last word LOVE?! This was Jaden she was thinking about! Dense, childish Jaden who didn't know a thing about love! Plus, since it _was_ Jaden, it could be something completely innocent in the Slifer's mind, like he just loved her as a friend or a sister. But his _eyes_ had just been so serious when he said it, they were almost even mature!

And then he just walked away! What the _hell?!_ You don't just walk away from someone after _love confession!_ ARRGGH! What's going on?! Why did her heart feel like it was threatening to pop from happiness and why did she have the random urge to run around campus tossing out sparkles and rainbows?!

... But he did walk away from her afterwards... so it must just mean sister-brother love otherwise he would have stayed behind. Even though she finally came to the conclusion that she had desperately wanted to reach, her mood sank considerably. He didn't love her like that. Why did it hurt so much to think it?

Alexis released her breath that she had been holding and started heading back to her dorm. Or at least she would have if she hadn't have heard a loud CRASH resounding from the trees. "Ouch," the voice of her brother meekly stated. Then he recovered from falling out of the tree and was suddenly right next to her, and boy did he look angry! "You're just going to walk away?!" he exclaimed loudly.

"Yes," Alexis responded easily, not even fazed by her brother's spying. "He just meant it like we were friends Atti, that's all." Atticus was practically pulling out his hair in exasperation.

"Lexi! Come on! You know what he meant! Jaden just told you he loved you and you're going to walk away instead of telling him you love him?!"

"I don't love him in that way Atticus," Alexis snapped defensively. "We're just friends. Maybe if you stopped looking around with your crazy schemes and stared using your head you'd see that."

Atticus hung his head like a smacked puppy. "But Lexis, you _know_ that you like Jaden..."

"Atticus," she flared. "This is the last time I'm going to tell you. I only love Jaden as a friend."

_And he feels the same way about me... _

**(Next day)**

"Okay time to commence plan get Jaden and Alexis together!" Atticus announced to the room filled with people.

"I thought you said this was a karaoke party!" someone exclaimed from the back.

"You told me this was a plan to get Alexis and me together!" Chazz exclaimed.

"You said that there would be chocolate!"

"He told _me_ that we were on a date!"

Atticus sweat-dropped and waved his hands around nervously. "I lied!" he said brilliantly. "But now that you're all here, you can help!"

The random students and Jaden's friends grumbled. "Like we have anything better to do," Chazz muttered loud enough for Atticus to hear. "Besides, this will all just backfire like normal and Alexis will realize her undying affections for The Chazz!"

"Perfect!" the ditzy teen shouted. "I'll work on Jaden while all of you help to make—!"

* * *

**(JADEN POV)**

After getting my food I sat down on our usual table, not bothering to glance at whoever was sitting across from me. Moodily, I attempted to amputate the spaghetti on my plate under the other's watchful eyes. A gentle hand suddenly guided my wrist away from the plate and turned my chin to look at the person. It was Alexis.

I mentally flinched when I saw her hurt eyes (she was obviously bothered by the fact that I wouldn't tell her what was wrong) and our conversation last night came dribbling back into my conscious. This wouldn't be fun.

"Jaden..." she said slowly. "I'm sorry for calling you cold last night."

The other started and glanced at Alexis like she was insane. Syrus was about to barge into the conversation but Driana placed her gloved hand over his mouth quickly, shaking her head. I noticed this out of the corner of my eyes, but did not take in its meaning until later. I was too busy staring at Alexis.

"Apology accepted," I replied simply. "And about what I said..."

We both blushed slightly, not meeting each other's eyes. "Don't worry Jaden, I understand what you meant."

I looked up, surprise written all over my face. How did she understand something that I said if I don't?! And what does she understand about it? Does she think that I _like_ her now, like Atticus was babbling about that one day? Because I just like her as a friend, and I don't want her to get hurt!

_But why do I feel so guilty every time I disappoint her? _

I've already proven that I can lie to every other friend I have, but not to Alexis, it just doesn't come out right.

"Err... good?" I finished lamely, making it sound more like a question than a fact. She smiled at my fumble while I noticed that my hand was still very warm and more heavy than usual. Whoops, there goes my face again... "Um, Lex, you can let go of my hand now."

She blinked, looked down at our intertwined hands, looked back at me, and then at the rest of the gang. Alexis jerked away from me like I was contagious with some deadly disease, turning a red that rivaled the spaghetti sauce on her plate. Thinking about that, I never understood why she always ate with us now; doesn't she prefer the Obelisk food over the Slifer food? The same thing goes for Driana...

Speaking of which, she's giving me a really weird look right now. And then I realized that it wasn't just her, it was everyone: Bastion, Syrus, and Chazz—not Alexis now though (she's looking in the opposite direction). Why are they looking at me like that? "Uh guys?" I said. "What's up?"

I was suddenly being dragged out of the room forcibly by Chazz, Bastion, Hassleberry, and Syrus. Instinct started to take over, causing me to struggle a bit, but then Hassleberry threw me over his shoulder and that was the end of it. I gave Alexis and Driana a weak smile and a little wave before the door closed and I was released.

"Slacker!" Chazz shouted, steam pouring out of his ears. "Stay AWAY from my LEXI!"

I backed away nervously from him, trying not to point out that Alexis wasn't his. Syrus immediately materialized by my side and said, "So it's true than Jay?"

I gave him a blank look. "Is what true?"

Bastion sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking. "That you have feelings for Alexis of course."

"Well yeah," I answered, flabbergasted. "I think she's a great friend and an awesome duelist."

"Not like that soldier!" Hassleberry flared, smacking his head in frustration. Of course, I knew what he meant now, but I was in the mood for twenty questions. Plus I was still trying to untangle why my hand felt so empty without her touch.

"Well... I think she's pretty," I offered like a young child would, waiting for Chazz to blow up on a rant about how _beautiful his dear Lexi-pie was. _A strange mix of anger and annoyance welled up within me, but I pushed it down just as suddenly.

"_Pretty?!_ PRETTY?!" Chazz exploded right on cue. I leaned casually against the railing to watch the show while the others shrank away from the crazy Slifer in fan-boy mode. "THAT'S PRACTICALLY AN INSULT! ALEXIS CANNOT BE DESCRIBED AS _PRETTY_!! SHE'S MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN—!!"

His poem that was undoubtedly about to come was cut off by a duel-disk colliding with his head. Surprised, we all turned around to look down at Blair Flannigan with her hands on her hips. "Shut-up you moron!" she yelled at Chazz. "Some of us are trying to do their work!" Chazz rose grumbling and rubbing his head.

_That's my cue to slip away, _I thought, slowly sliding towards the school. My absence went unnoticed as I silently paced away from the group with a small smirk adorning my cheerful features. Some good that came out of my nightmares was that I was learning secrecy, and now I understood how to get away when I needed some time on my own to figure things out and this was definitely the time.

I walked around campus with my hands shoved deep in my pockets, my eyes curiously blank. I had finally gotten over my own words, believing that I had just meant I loved Alexis like a sister, but her words just wouldn't leave me alone. _"I think you're someone... who can be very cold." _

That sentence bothered me the most. Generally, people never described me as cold. Most normal human beings didn't even think that I could be cold at all. "What does this mean?" I sighed to no one in particular. "Why did she say that to me?"

"Because she loves you!" Atticus burst, appearing out of nowhere right by my side. I leapt a good foot into the air at the sudden noise.

"Hey Atticus," I said after recovering. "What do you mean?"

"I'm here to help you win over my sister's heart Jaden!"

My new annoyance meter picked up, boiling just below the surface. "Atticus, I just like Alexis as a _friend_," I replied, putting emphasis on the word.

Atticus didn't seem to hear me. "You know, I could cut your hair to make her notice you! That would work! It's genius!" He produced scissors out of thin air. I blinked in evident surprise at the metal appendages.

"Atticus, no," I replied, shaking my head in annoyance. He raised an eyebrow at my lack of energy-filled reaction and stowed the scissors away again. I didn't bother to fight when he steered me down to a bench and looked me over with strangely serious eyes.

"Jaden, what's been up with you lately? You've got Lexi worried," he said, bringing up the subject that I desperately wanted to drop.

"I'm _fine!_" I snapped irritably. I made to stand up and walk away, but Atticus held me down.

"No you're not," he gently input. "You don't look like you've been sleeping very well, what's keeping you up Jaden? Are you confused about something? I only want to help, you know." I blinked. How did he figure that out? Was he just guessing and what was with all of this serious behavior, this isn't the Atticus Rhodes I know. "And I heard the two of you lovebirds on the cliff last night too." Suddenly, his normal grin was intact and I was flushing.

"We're not lovebirds, idiot," I snarled, surprising myself again. The lack of sleep must be affecting me more than I thought.

Atticus disregarded my cold comment and patted me on the back. "Jaden, Jaden, Jaden. There's no shame in being confused about your feeling for my sister and a certain other Obelisk student. That's what happens when you grow up!" he cheerily announced. "And all you need to do to get rid of all of this confusion is get a good night's sleep! It'll help clear you head! Then come and talk to me and I'll help you sort everything out! I'm the Master of Love after all!"

I sighed, knowing there was no other way out of this. "Fine Atticus. I'll be there tomorrow, but I don't like Alexis or Driana like that."

"Who said Driana's name?" Atticus said innocently. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

* * *

**(Later that night JADEN POV)**

I finally got away from Atticus around 3:00pm today. I rested my head against the tree in my favorite spot on Duel Academy, and also my most exposed. I silently prayed that Alexis would not come out here again while at the same time hoping she would. Then my thoughts drifted towards Driana and the circle was completed. I had just spent an entire day trying to figure out my feelings, and now I'm back to square one!

How is that fair?!

I waited for the playful chirping of the Neospacion dolphins in the calm ocean night, hoping for it to have its usual affects on my thoughts. It was a hope in vain. I settled for watching them instead, forcing myself to pick up every little detail in their small fins and big eyes. This chased away all of my other thoughts until I was in a content stupor. Blackness crept at the edges of my vision, and I did not fight it. I knew I needed sleep—nightmares or not—and even though I'm afraid of what I'll see, I know it's not real.

"Jaden?"

I almost face-vaulted in pure surprise. "Lady Luck HATES ME!" I shouted loudly, falling on my back.

"Huh? What do ya mean Jay?" I finally pinned the voice down to Syrus.

"YES! Lady Luck LOVES me again!" I made out Syrus blinking incomprehensively, so I patted the ground next to me in invitation and added, "I thought you were someone else Sy."

"Ooooh-K," Syrus said, raising an eyebrow. My best friend sat down next to me, tilting his head to the side curiously. "Who'd you think I was?"

I hesitated, then admitted, "Driana."

"Why don't you want to talk to her? You guys have a fight or something?"

"Or something," I smiled, patting him on the back dismissively. He understood that I didn't want to talk about it and dropped it. God, I loved him for that.

"Have you heard about the new students coming in?" he smiled, brushing his long locks of blue hair out of his face.

"No, that's sweet! We're getting new students?!" I exclaimed, forgetting all my troubles temporarily. "Sweetness! I hope they're really tough opponents!" I flashed my victory sign and he laughed effortlessly, but I noticed his hands were fidgeting restlessly on his lap. If I've learned one thing in my life, it's how to read people, and I knew something was bothering him. Probably me.

"Yeah, and rumor is that someone is pushing for a dance to welcome them all in," Sy whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

"Oh," I said, not sure why he was telling me this. "So who's putting it together?"

Syrus shrugged. "I have no idea. Mindy was saying something about Atticus, but I doubt it. Mindy and Jasmine like to gossip a bit too much."

I smiled at that and allowed my shoulders to unwind and my fists to unclench. Syrus looked towards the forest suddenly, eyes alert. My eyes drifted towards his location and saw only darkness, causing an involuntary shiver. Then I heard it. Footsteps!

Someone appeared out of the darkness, a man that I didn't recognize. He was a foot taller than I was, but everything else was hidden in the shadows. He simply stood there, watching us.

"Err... hello?" I said weakly, freaking out at his silence. Syrus scooted closer to my side in fear. A quick glance beside me was enough to know that he wasn't going to be able to run anywhere, he looked to be paralyzed with fear. "Hey! Who are you!"

The man took a step forward, but stayed hidden still. I stood up and deployed my duel-disk threateningly. He froze in his tracks. A few tense minutes passed by, none of us moving an inch, and then another figure appeared next to him. And then another. And another. Soon, we were surrounded.

"What do you want?!" I demanded, scooting Syrus behind me and raising my hands to defend us. They smirked and stepped forward, reminding me horribly of Haou. "Hey! Back off!"

They swarmed against us, and lashed out at me. I caught the first fist thrown at me, recalling my training in self-defense, and punched the owner right in the nose. He staggered back, tears in his eyes and blood on my hand, nose probably broken, as I kicked another so hard between the legs that his eyes bulged. I couldn't stop the third as he knocked me to the side with a hard kick. I rolled into a protective ball before springing back up at Syrus' screams.

One of the men in black had grabbed him and flung him over his shoulder. Syrus was flailing around everywhere and pounding his small fists into the man's bulky back with no visible effect. "SYRUS!" I shouted, cursing that our location was so far away from help. I tried to rush the other man, but the dude whose nose I had broken grabbed my arms and held me back. I tried to kick at him, but something collided with the side of my head with a sickening:

THUD!

My vision was shot and everything looked like it had gone into a long black tunnel. I could barely discern Syrus calling my name in fear, and then everything went completely into darkness.

_My eyelids felt weak and heavy as Haou stared down at me, his hands crossed idly. I tried to move, or even speak for that matter, but my strength failed me. My knees started to buckle with weakness, but I refused to fall and bow down before this horrible phantasm. _

_"Why do you fear me?" Haou asked suddenly. His gold eyes burrowed into my brown ones intensely. My eyelids flickered in his general direction and I managed to form the small thought: _

_"You're not real, I'm not afraid." _

_"Yes you are child," Haou disagreed. "Those tendrils that bind you down, they are not me acting. That is your fear Jaden; it saps away your strength in the real world as well." _

_I managed to shake my head slowly as the tendrils continued winding up my legs. "It's you. This is a nightmare, and it's you." _

_Haou frowned, something that was not a rarity. Although this conversation was something unfamiliar, normally no words were exchanged while I tried to fend off the darkness. "I don't know how I can make an insolent brat understand this meaning, but know that I cannot harm you. You do not need to fear me; it's the light that you need to avoid." _

_There it was again, talking about the Society of Light. "The light's already gone!" _

_"From this world," Haou answered. He pointed up towards the mirrors. Circling above them was that single large purple eye with the reaching vines stretching into the distance. "But not from the others. You need to trust me." _

_I glowered at him sleepily. Even in my current worn-down state I knew what he was doing. He was trying to get my guard to drop, trying to gain my trust, so he could manipulate me into doing his bidding. "That eye's not real, is it Haou?" I managed to whisper this time. The tendrils responded to my anger and tightened, strangling my life away more rapidly. "It's just something you've created to scare me, to try and trick me." _

_Haou scowled at me visibly irked. "I warned you," he snipped testily. "And now it will be your fault for what is about to come." _

_Immobilized by my weakness, I could barely even lift my eyebrows in shock as I dueled a man in the shadows, three of my friends went missing, showers of orange sparks coated the starry sky, and monsters ran amuck through the woods. _

_

* * *

_

**I AM SO DEAD, AREN'T I?**

**R&R PLEASE!**

**(RUNS TO SECRET HIDING SPOT)**


	6. Hatred

**HI EVERYONE!! I'M BACK AND I'M STILL ALIVE!!!!**

**SORRY THAT THE RISING HASN'T BEEN UPDATED IN A LONG TIME, I'M STILL WORKING ON IT, BUT EVERY TIME I TRY TO FINISH IT, I GET A GOOD IDEA FOR WITHOUT YOU OR THIS STORY. GO FIGURE.**

**SO SORRY BUT EXPECT SLOW UPDATES ON THAT STORY (BTW: THERE IS BETWEEN 3-6 CHAPTERS LEFT, I'M STARTING TO GET IDEAS FOR MORE PARTS THAT WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER!! **

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YUGIOH GX!**

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* * *

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**Chapter 4**

"What should we do with this little brat?" one of the men gruffly snarled, glaring at Jaden on the ground at his feet. The side of his head was bleeding slightly from where he had been hit and his form was deathly still.

"Kilb hib," the kidnapper with an injured nose muttered, stemming the flow of his own blood with his hand.

"What?" the third man question in an oddly high voice, doubled over in pain from where he had been kicked.

"He said kill him," the one with Syrus answered. "But we can't do that; it will start an investigation on the island. That's the last thing we need."

One of Jaden's victims grunted in discontent. He moved over to Jaden and kicked him harshly in the ribs so that he rolled over to his side. The others raised an eyebrow, but didn't do anything about it.

"Well then just leave him, we weren't paid to take care of two brats," the first man grunted, walking away from Jaden without a care. The others nodded and the third shifted the now unconscious Syrus on his back before following.

* * *

**(Obelisk Dorms)**

"Where is he?" Atticus asked his clock for the billionth time. It now read 7:24am, 24 minutes after Jaden was supposed to be here to be annoyed—I mean—helped with his problems. Acting of impulse, Atticus left his dorm in search of the young brunette, hoping that he had just slept in like normal.

"JADEN!!!" Atticus shouted as he ran into the small room in the Slifer Red Dorm. Not a soul greeted him; even Syrus' bunk was empty. This was weird! "Maybe they're talking on that cliff!" the elder Rhodes announced to no one in particular. Without further ado, he set off towards the isolated area to startle Jaden and his bluenette roommate. As he walked peacefully towards the usual hangout, Atticus started to notice that the woods were rather quiet. He quickened his pace unconsciously and started humming to drown out the lack of noise.

After walking for about five minutes, he started shouting "MARCO!" as if Jaden would join in the game and reveal his location. Of course, Atticus got no luck there. Finally, he spotted the brunette teen laying down on the damp morning grass, apparently asleep.

A devilish smirk came onto Atticus' face and he pounced on top of Jaden, intending to scare the living crap out of him as punishment for being late to the Master of Love's schemes! It probably would have worked if Jaden had actually been sleeping, but the Obelisk Student didn't know that he wasn't. "Bonsai!" he cried boldly, jumping on top of the injured Slifer.

Jaden didn't respond to the movement in the way Atticus had imagined. In fact, he didn't respond at all. "Jaden, come on! I know you're a deep sleeper but this is worse than me!" He starting shaking Jaden's shoulders when he first noticed something wet hitting his hand. Blinking, Atticus stared at the red liquid on his hand for a good minute before connecting the dots. "Jaden!"

He checked Jaden's torso and shoulders for some kind of wound through the shirt, but couldn't find any tears in the clothes. When he ran a curious hand through Jaden's sweaty hair, he found what he was looking for. A certain red sticky spot that made Jaden—even in unconsciousness—flinch sharply when it was touched.

"Hey! Wake up buddy! I need to make you and Alexis fall in love!!" Atticus complained while hoisting Jaden onto his back. Jaden's weak breaths reached his ear, and Atticus frowned. He didn't know much about unconsciousness, but the fact that he was breathing was a good sign. It was a good thing he didn't get anything blocked in his airway throughout the night; he wouldn't have been able to cough it out and would have died! It was pretty weird in Atticus' opinion. Why was Jaden hurt in the first place?

* * *

**(Jaden POV)**

"It's just a dream... just a dream," I repeated to myself over and over again. The shadows swirled around my prison and Haou lurked just out of my range of sight, on the blurry edges of my vision with his gold eyes contrasting with the darkness. Every time I would try and look to see him, he would disappear for a few scary minutes and then appear just in the corners of my sight again.

This was horrible. I couldn't deny it now; I was afraid, BIG TIME! I kept trying to wake up from this nightmare, but I was trapped. Consciousness scuttled away from my feeble grasp like soft summer wind. I could _feel_ it, but I couldn't hold onto it. And pain, there was plenty of that. My side hurt and my head was throbbing. I didn't want to touch my injury in fear of how grave it was. I rejected the thought of being trapped down here for the rest of my life being forced to witness terrible acts in these mirrors! Why couldn't they just go back to being reflection-less? It was better than seeing all of this:

Alexis suffering from some unknown pain, withering and screaming loudly in a dark part of the forest

Syrus being held prisoner by those thugs and being beaten into a crying helpless shadow of his former self

Driana just standing there, looking into my eyes with pain in her eyes unimaginable

She keeps saying something to me, but I can't hear it

Hassleberry is struggling with something before he is tossed out of sight

A boy that I don't know stands in the middle of the chaos and holds a rainbow card high above his blue haired head

The eye reaches its vines towards my friends and classmates...

"S-stop!"I cried out uselessly for the n-th time. "Please! Haou, please stop!"

Haou approached me this time. He did so calmly and coolly as if I was just some piece of gum on the bottom of his shoe. "I can help you, us. I can stop that from happening."

"No you can't!" I shouted back with a touch of hysteria in my raspy voice. "You'll only hurt them!"

"Why do you say that? I'm part of you Jaden, they're my friends as well," Haou responded without any emotion. I wanted to believe him, I really did, but even I knew better than to fall for some stupid tricks.

"Haou," I said, trying to raise my voice but failing because of the tendrils constricting my chest. "How could you help me anyway?"

"I can do things you can't possibly imagine."

I already knew that. "How can I trust you?"

"You can't," was his simple answer.

I fell to my knees suddenly, unable to stand up any longer. Pain, so much pain! I let only a small moan escape my lips as more life was squeezed out of my fragile body. I heard Haou's light footsteps receding back into the shadows. Now I was left alone to deal with the tormenting vines and my friend's screams surrounding me in an unearthly orchestra. All I could think of was: Why? Why was this happening to me?

Then suddenly I was burning, a horrible sensation engulfed my nose and made me want to gag. I blanched dryly and watched the world of black recede as Haou had done.

* * *

**(Driana POV)**

I frowned as Ms. Fontaine searched hurriedly for some sticks of smelling-salt. Jaden was limp on the bed, facing me, with his leg held out at a ninety degree angle and his head tilted to help ease his breathing. Atticus was saying something stupid about how Jaden was supposed to see him this morning and he hadn't shown up and Syrus was nowhere to be found... Alexis was starting to cry, I could tell even though she had her eyes hidden from everyone's view. I was no stranger to a case of heartbroken worry.

_As a matter of fact... the last time... Jaden really looks like him... _

_He lay on the bed, deathly still, hooked up to several machines both impressive and useless. His chest barely moved even with assisted breathing and his heart rate was irregular. I sat by his side with my hand in his, feeling more powerful than I even had before... and also more afraid than ever. _

I shook my head, dislodging the brief memory fiercely from place and observing the room.

Jaden's other friends stood silently for the most part. Hassleberry was being contained (unsuccessfully) by Bastion as he tried to run out of the room and interrogate every living soul on the campus to find the guilty party. I repressed a snort. It was better for him that he didn't. Still, those baphoons weren't supposed to have actually hurt Jaden! When I got back to the station, they were going to be in for it.

Well, at least they didn't kill him.

That would have started much more suspicion than just a casual hit-and-run type of thing. It just appeared as though someone (maybe even a student with a grudge) had taken a branch to the side of Jaden's head when he wasn't looking. Of course, that was wrong and could be proved by testing the blood on Jaden's knuckles. It was an unsightly maroon color instead of a vivid shade of red, and that proved to me where it came from.

_He must have nailed Drake in the struggle. _

I smiled lightly despite the fact that I should be angry that one of my comrades was hurt. Ha, Drake—big, tall, bulky, I-am-stronger-and-faster-than-any-human Drake—got himself nailed hard by peaceful, laid-back, and fun-loving Jaden Yuki.

He deserved it.

Ms. Fontaine suddenly pushed past me and snapped the smelling-salts under Jaden's nose. It crinkled unpleasantly, but he stirred finally. After a brief second of nothing, Jaden snapped up with his hands grasping the side of his head. Now it had been bandaged by a tightly bound cloth. His kept his eyes closed tightly for a few minutes, leaving us to listen to his breaths calm down, until he cautiously turned and met our gazes. Alexis was restraining herself to not glomp onto him in relief, and I almost laughed, but then I saw it.

I jumped in shock, it had happened too quickly for anyone but me to see, but for the briefest of seconds, his eyes had flashed another color. I didn't know what it was, but it made my breath catch. There's just no way! I must have imagined it! Jaden just can't be the one, he can't!

* * *

**(3rd person POV) **

Jaden peered at his friends uncertainly. His hand clutched the side of his head, which was throbbing painfully, and his vision was slightly fuzzy around the edges.

"What's your name?" Ms. Fontaine drilled suddenly. Jaden turned towards her slowly. Her voice sounded far away.

"You know my name," he said, flabbergasted. He removed one hand from his head and rested it on the bed near Alexis' hand. She took it wordlessly.

"Just answer the question." His vision and hearing settled, now everything was in clear focus... except for why Ms. Fontaine was asking him what his name was. Was this some kind of a test?

"Jaden Yuki?" he replied like his name was a question.

"What day is it?"

"Err... Saturday I think." Was it Saturday? He tried to think about it, but last night came out very vague and unfocused.

"How old are you?"

"I'm 17 and why are you asking me all these questions? It's not like I can't remember anything."

"It's a procedure that I have to ask everyone after they regain consciousness."

"Oh," Jaden replied. His eyes became slightly unfocused and distant. What happened, why was he in the hospital again? Suddenly, everything came back into existence in his mind. "SYRUS!" he shouted loudly.

"Jaden?" Alexis said quietly. "What's wrong?"

"Sy's been kidnapped! We were out talking last night on the cliffs and these men came out of the woods and surrounded us! One of them took Syrus and another hit me with something! We have to go find him!" Jaden burst. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and made to stand up. He swayed dangerously on his legs and Alexis hurried to steady him with her free hand.

"Jaden, calm down!" she ordered him gently. "You can't go searching for him in your condition."

"Why not?" he challenged, narrowing his eyes. "Sy's my best bud! I'm helping you guys!"

"No Serge!" Hassleberry shouted, freeing himself from Bastion. He marched over to Jaden and folded his arms across his chest. "What if those cretins come back to get you too while you're looking? You can't go out there!"

There it was again. Jaden's eyes narrowed even further, anger appearing on his face for the first time anyone had seen it. "Listen to me, if they wanted to take me, they would have instead of just knocking me out and leaving me on the ground! There were more than enough of them to carry both me and Syrus. There's some reason why they didn't take me, so I know they won't try it now while I'm with several other people. They would have kidnapped me while I was unconscious, out in the open, and far away from help!"

The room was silent. "He's right," Driana spoke up first.

"Hell must have frozen over," Chazz scoffed. Alexis whacked him with her hand on the back of his head. "Ouch!"

"Come on! We need to look for him!" Jaden demanded again, taking a step forward. His wobbled uncertainly for a few tense seconds and then took another more confident step. A gentle hand ensnared his wrist and tugged him back.

"No Jaden," Alexis sternly admonished onto him. He made motions to argue, but she cut him off. "You're not going out there at all. One of us is going to stay here with you, the rest will go look for Syrus and Ms. Fontaine can warn the Chancellor, alright?"

She could tell that he didn't like that plan, but he didn't argue. "Fine."

Oh, Driana hoped he wouldn't try anything funny while they were away. Searching the woods would be very dangerous right now and the last thing she needed was someone to get killed. The others seemed just as surprised by his answer.

"You're giving you word that you'll stay here?" Bastion blinked. "You are not going to argue about your situation?"

"No, why? Do you want me to?" Jaden smiled lightly. Then his expression darkened. "Just be careful. I won't stay put if another one of you gets hurt."

Driana shivered, she knew that if Zane's little plan actually worked, Jaden would indeed fulfill that last promise. _Especially because he plans to make Alexis and me into victims. Zane, Zane, Zane. Shouldn't you know by now that I'm not who I appear to be? Or did the years at the academy and at dueling prep school together not give you enough time to pick me apart? _

"Don't do anything rash Jaden," Bastion warned him.

"What? I don't have a rash," Jaden said without missing a beat. He blinked up at them curiously when they all fell over.

"Idiot," Chazz scoffed after he recovered from a face-vault. "He means don't do anything else stupid, Slacker. That's impossible for Slacker, so don't waste your breath geek." Alexis whacked him again.

"Then why didn't you say so?" Jaden wondered briefly. "Anyway, who's staying?"

Jaden's suddenly highly optimistic behavior was starting to worry them. They knew he was planning something, but what? It would most likely end up disastrous failing anyway (seriously, a plan that Jaden made that's going to work... Pfft, yeah right), so they didn't worry too much.

Except for Alexis. She was very worried about Jaden right now. His best friend had just been kidnapped and he had been knocked out and kicked in the ribs, now he was acting like his normal self after days of false smiles? What was going on in Jaden's head?

"I'll stay with the Serge!" Hassleberry announced loudly, stomping over to Jaden's side. He forced a smile at his dino-loving friend briefly. Hassleberry would be nearly impossible to escape from. If he tried anything, he would be thrown over the boy's shoulders like a sack of potatoes and dropped back into the bed!

"Thanks Hassleberry," Alexis smiled. She turned towards Jaden dangerously. "Don't try anything, got it Yuki?"

"S-sure Lex."

* * *

**(ALEXIS POV) **

Driana volunteered to search with me (we traveled around in pairs and a three-some), much to my annoyance. I just couldn't seem to like this girl, why was she always hanging around with Jaden?! And who was she to bat her eyelashes and laugh so seductively whenever he says something funny?! Who is she to be so innocent that she probably doesn't even know she's doing it!?!

Even more importantly, why was I thinking like this? It's not like Jaden's my property or anything. And he's just a friend; I shouldn't care if someone's flirting with him.

But I did.

Why?

"So Alexis," Driana said, breaking me out of my thoughts. Her hands were laced behind her head while her pretty eyes held an inquisitive sparkle. Darn it, why does she have to be so beautiful? Jaden will surely catch on soon enough! Arrgh! Why do I care so much?!

"Yeah," I managed behind clenched teeth.

"Who do you think the new students will be? I heard that they're transfers from the other branches of Duel Academy and some creepy elite professor dude. What do ya make of it?" she drilled off. "It seems so strange that they'd just randomly transfer students over in the middle of our third year, doesn't it? But apparently that Professor dude was really pushing to get in here for a year."

"That's weird," I commented. Sunlight streamed through the quiet woods and leaves. "I hope he's not another psychopath like last year."

Driana rolled her eyes. "That was so stupid, The Society of Light? I left the school that year just to get away from it, transferred briefly to North Academy in Europe... So who stopped it—the society I mean?"

"Jaden did," I smiled and started fingering my right hand that had held Jaden's not so long ago. It was still warm. I felt a light blush dust my face, but Driana didn't notice.

She looked as if something had hit her hard. Her eyes widened in surprise and her breath left in a gasp.

"Driana?" I asked, worried. I moved so that I was facing her, but she shook her head as if clearing it before walking on.

"I'm alright Alexis," she said breathlessly. Frowning, I let her silence stand. First Jaden kept secrets and now Driana? This was getting a bit out of hand.

I made a disbelieving noise at her lightly, but kept walking ahead. She could tell me what's wrong when she wanted to. I had already learned with Jaden not to push someone to tell me something they obviously don't want to talk about. Hmm... maybe I should if that means she'll start hating me and then she'll leave me alone and maybe even Jaden if she's mad enough... Wait! What am I thinking? Driana's my friend! I can't do something so shallow to her! Arrrggggh! Why am I thinking like this anyway?!?!

"Let's go this way!" Driana brightly offered. I looked up and noticed that we had reached a fork in our 'path' through the forest. I wanted to say no and keep walking in the opposite direction that she was, but I contained myself. "Come on Alexis!"

Without further persuasion, she walked down the left fork, leaving me staring down the right path. The road she took seemed easier than this one, less dark and twisting, but for some reason I didn't want to go down it. I had a weird feeling that she was heading down the wrong path. Shaking it off, I ran to catch up to the raven-haired beauty. Something made me turn around again, and I managed to see cloaked figures streaming out of the trees towards us. My thoughts scattering when a figure crashed out of the trees behind me and I screamed, "HELP!! JADEN!!!"

* * *

**(Jaden POV) **

Within a minute I was already twitching with boredom and impatience. I wanted to help look for Syrus! I didn't want to be stuck in the infirmary counting ceiling tiles (there are 92 by the way) while my friends are running around through a huge forest (that I've already gotten lost in for five-ish days last year!) with kidnappers lurking in the shadows! This stinks!

"Well you seem to be perfectly fine," Ms. Fontaine announced, pulling away from the side of my head, smiling. "That will hurt for a few days, a week at most, but you don't appear to have a concussion and your ribs aren't broken or cracked."

I gave her a small smile absently. I didn't remember being kicked in the ribs, but I really didn't care right now. Ms. Fontaine smiled back at me kindly and cleaned up the side of my head with a wet rag. I winced slightly when the cloth came in contact with my wound, but she didn't comment. Finally, she was done tending to me and left to warn Chancellor Sheppard of the kidnapping.

"I'll stand guard Serge!" Hassleberry announced brightly, cuffing me on my shoulders lightly. I forced a small laugh and waved him off, waiting for the doors to close. As soon as they did, I was moving around, pacing, trying to find a way out of this evil place so I could just look for Syrus. Sure, I said that I'd stay, but I didn't say how long I would. Yay loopholes!!

I've got it!

"HASSLEBERRY!!" I screamed like I was being stabbed, diving to the right of the doors. My friend catapulted into the room, charging towards my bed on the left before noticing it was empty. Smirking, I bolted out the door. "Thanks pal!" I called back, half turning to him and smiling.

He stared at me in shock, blinking heavily. As I rounded the corner, I heard a mutinous cry of: "SERGE!!" before I heard his pounding feet follow up. I laughed for real and pushed myself harder, sending students hurtling out of the way to avoid be run down. Adrenaline pumped in my blood and I felt a huge rush powering my body, making me lean and fast and powerful. I loved this feeling! I could definitely help Sy now!

"Serge, slow down!"

"Catch me if you can!" I taunted back childishly, sticking my tongue out at him and turning around. His eyes flashed into dino-mode. Oh crap, I **_really_** need to start thinking things through! "Ahh!" I hollered as Hassleberry doubled his pace and started to overtake me.

**_I can help you..._**

I stumbled as I heard that voice echo in my head. No way. Not Haou, he wasn't real! The sound of Hassleberry's feet dragged me out of it and I took off into the forest again. Haou isn't real. I was just imagining things! _Right?! _

I barreled through a thick hedge of bushes, getting slightly cut up in the process. I didn't hear the sound of Haou's cruel (and yet strangely similar to mine) voice. Maybe I was just hearing things.

_I hope I am... _

I chanced a glance behind me just in time to see a flash of yellow before Hassleberry tackled me to the ground and into a worn path in the forest. Pain erupted from my side and head as I was forced forward by momentum. Hassleberry shot off of me as a loud scream echoed through the leaves. I felt everything freeze. "That was Alexis!" I tried to get up again, but Hassleberry held me down.

"Serge, stay still! You can't go fightin' in your condition!" he shouted, wrestling with me and easily winning. "How'd you know it was Alexis?"

I struggled again vainly. "I don't know, I just always recognize her voice! Now please get off me! That hurts my head!" His eyes widened and he slowly got off of my back, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Sorry Serge."

I sat up and looked around closely in the dusk air. Nothing stirred, nothing chirped or sniffed or sang, and it was all still. "It's happening again..." I trailed off, weaving my vision between the branches.

"Huh?"

"There's no noise!" I announced loudly. Was Alexis alright?! She didn't scream again. Maybe she just ran into the others and they startled her... no, that not Lex, that'd be Syrus... Sy... "I don't want to lose another friend Hassleberry," I quietly said, changing my tone completely. He was about to answer, but then his PDA went off, scaring the living daylights out of us both.

"Hello?" he asked as I bent over to see the screen. Bastion was in the picture. He appeared to be rapidly sprinting.

"Where are you? Is Jaden gone?" Bastion demanded quickly.

"I'm right here Bastion," I announced, coming into view.

"Thank Goodness for that. Someone just screamed; it had to have come from Alexis and Driana's group. We needed to know that you were safe too. Keep this signal running Hassleberry, I can track your movements."

"Gotcha Private, now what do I have to do? Can you lock onto the ladies' signal-bobber-things too?"

"No, someone's deactivated their PDAs. We have to regroup and head back to alert authorities... they've been kidnapped." The rest of the conversation was lost to me.

My fists clenched and some strange emotion washed over me, turning everything into a red hue. They had taken Alexis and Driana. I felt like punching something as hard as I could. This feeling was so weird. I was angry, but not in a way that I've ever been before. It was bitter, resentful, and hostile even. My feet started working before my brain gave any commands. I wouldn't let those... those _bastards_ hurt them! I felt my eyes narrow dangerously as I sprinted towards where I had heard the sound, leaving Hassleberry behind. He would notice that I slipped away in only a small amount of time. No matter.

"Kuriboh, can you take me to them?" I whispered to the air. He appeared on my shoulder and gave a few soft noises, nodding quickly. "Thanks buddy." He nodded again and took off in front of me, guiding me with his faint light.

_I won't show any mercy on whoever hurt my friends!! _

Unfortunately, I failed to spot the small red lights from the cameras.

* * *

**(At the animal facility/villian hideout)**

"He's coming you idiots!" Artemis snarled at the men who had kidnapped Syrus. "You idiots! Why did you give him the incentive that you would hurt his other friends by nailing him?! Why couldn't you have knocked the girl out before she screamed?! And don't give me the excuse 'because I'm human and humans make mistakes'! You're faster than any human I've seen!! Explain yourself before I spill you blood on the floor Drake!!"

"How does he know where we are?" Drake asked, pulling his hood up to hide his face and bruised nose. "And before you _try_ to hurt me, the other boy caught me off guard and we had to contain him. The girl was lucky that she had time to scream. It was a fluke. She looked behind her just as we came out of hiding. Do you expect me to predict the future now?"

Artemis continued to glare heatedly at him. "Go to Zane and tell him you have his three captives. Then set up the duel ASAP. I don't care if you're seen; this is the fault of your incompetence. You will fix it or suffer my wrath, understand?"

Drake nodded, leaving Artemis to monitor the computer screens and Jaden's progress, calming down as she watched. The burning hatred in his eyes stood out the most.

_Remarkable,_ she thought as she watched his sure-footed movements. _It's almost like he knows exactly where we are... I've only seen one person walk that way before, it has to be him. He has to be him... _

Distractedly, her green eyes traveled over to another section of the forest, just outside their hideout. The automatic doors slid open silently, allowing the scum Zane to leave. He was slowly striding out into the forest without a speck of emotion at this twist of events. She scowled.

_I don't want to help Zaney with his little project, but I have to. Or at least, my assistant does. Go ahead Driana, put on a little show for Jaden, why don't you? _

* * *

**(Driana POV) **

_If this guy touches my chest one more time I'm going to kill him. _

I couldn't tell who it was that had unceremoniously thrown me over their shoulder a few seconds after we had arrived back at base with an unconscious Alexis and Syrus (also unconscious) being dragged out of a room. I could tell, however, that my alleged "kidnapper" kept shifting me around unnecessarily and putting his arms around my chest. Apparently he had heard that I was Artemis' little apprentice and wanted a piece of me. Oh Ra, he'll get a piece of me all right... when I shove his freaking nose up into his freaking brain with my freaking fist!

"Cut it out you imbecile!" I snapped at one of our grunts.

"You're supposed to be unconscious," he reminded me. I snorted, like I needed to be reminded I was playing 'damsel in distress' with Alexis and Syrus.

"_You'll _be permanently unconscious if you don't stop, how about that?" I shot back with pride. Ra, why is everyone under the impression that I'm like some tool just because of what I do to help out our advisor? Artemis and I have converted over half of our members by doing this! This lackey should be groveling at my feet for what I have to go through every stinking time we find someone worth it!! Stake-outs, getting close to the target as a friend, sometimes as more, and then tossing them aside to let their negative feeling fester until some spider like Shroud is sent to 'convert' them.

All of it disgusts me. I know this is a necessity to reach our just goal... but why would I try to hurt Jaden if he is the one? Shouldn't we be befriending him instead; making him trust us? How can we expect him to be controlled by us if the only we ever did to him was lie and betray his pure soul?

There I go again. I've never questioned my duties before, why am I starting now?

_Because I don't want to hurt him like the others. I care more about what happens after I saw what I can really do to someone... _

I shuddered, blocking out the memory like normal. At least this idiot isn't trying anything again. A new voice entered my hearing range.

"Make sure they're awake when our guest arrives," Zane coolly reminded the men. I willed myself to stay limp and un-lifelike. Zane still doesn't know I'm not with Jaden and his friends. I'm just another pawn in his game. Weird how it's the same for Artemis, huh? This entire process is just one huge never-ending game with an unknown ruler moving the pieces. We're all just players, all pawns or knights, horses or towers... whatever it may be. Only one of us can topple the King.

Or not the King... not yet... Right now, he's hiding behind the fool.

* * *

**(Somewhere)**

"Once I leech enough energy from the students, you'll give me what I want." It was a demand issued from a strong man with short black hair.

"Yes, yes, so long as you bring me what I want," a deep, masculine voice issued from the darkness.

"Yes," the man bowed his head. "I will bring you his energy to save my son. I'll bring you Jaden Yuki."

"Good Viper," the voice issued again. Then its tone changed into that of a female child. Viper did not seem to hear it as it said. "I see... I see Jaden. My beloved child. You have been doing well..."

* * *

**CHECK MY PROFILE FOR PREVIEWS (YES, I'LL UPDATE IT NOW)**

**R&R**

**OH, PS: YUBEL ROCKS!!!!!**

**AND I'M SORRY THAT I DIDN'T REPLY TO YOUR REVIEWS, I'LL TRY TO GET TO THAT LATER. SEE YA!!**


	7. Where do I belong?

**"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity." Henry Van Dyke**

**HI GUYS! I JUST THOUGHT THAT QUOTE WAS TOO CUTE TO NOT PUT UP!**

**I'M REALLY SORRY FOR UPDATING A WEEK LATE, BUT I SWEAR THE SPIRIT OF JADEN YUKI POSSESED ME OR SOMETHING BECAUSE I JUST COULDN'T STOP WRITING THE DUEL! SO HERE IT IS, THE MOMENT OF... WHATEVER WITH JADEN vs ZANE!**

**OH THE ANGST!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN GX! **

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**(Jaden POV)**

I felt the warmth on my skin vanish before I noticed the sunshine had disappeared. I peered up long enough through the branches to spot dark storm clouds rolling over the cheery sunlight. A cold, humorless laugh escaped my lips. What fitting weather.

Kuriboh glanced back at me nervously, fidgeting his wings. Kuri?

"I fine buddy," I assured him. Or I will be when I find whoever took away my friends!!

He still looked doubtful, but continued to lead the way. Thunder started to roll in the distance and the wind mercilessly shook the trees around us. This was starting to get a little strange. Since when do storms magically appear out of nowhere? I found that I really didn't care. All I wanted was to find those bastards that had dared to lay a hand on my friends!

I hissed as a stray branch whipped against my cheek, making a small cut. I could deal. This was no compare to the sensation bubbling just below my skin, this... this... I still didn't know what it was. I can't ever remember feeling this way before, but it just seems so right.

"Let us go!" a loud, carrying voice boomed with the thunder pounding in the distance.

"Alexis!" I shouted, pumping my legs faster. Kuriboh vanished with a small nod as I blew past him. "Alexis, where are you?!"

I burst through the brush and into an open clearing, staring across at my three friends. Silver glinted at me from the chains that bound them to individual trees and they all looked worse for wear. Red crept into the corners of my vision again. "Who did this to you?!" I shouted angrily. Syrus shook his head quickly, as if he was trying to hold back his pain. "Who did this?!"

"Jaden!" this time Driana spoke to me. "Jaden, it's a trap! Get out of here!"

"Not without you guys!" I argued, running towards them. I never even got close. "Arrgggh!"

"JADEN!" Alexis screamed, struggling against her chains vainly. I staggered to a halt, backing away from the sharp wall of electricity that had just roared up before me. My eyes searched for the source in the gloom, and I eventually made out the spiked shock collar used by only one person I know.

"Zane?"

A twig snapped behind me and I whipped around, my senses in hyper-drive. There he was, Zane Trusedale, standing amid the violently twisting trees like some shadow of death in all of his black clothing. He wore the shock collars around his arms and neck already, and proceeded to wordlessly toss me a set and a duel-disk. I gave him a glance that clearly showed how mental I thought he was.

"You should know the drill by now Jaden," he taunted me suddenly, stepping into dueling range at the other end of the clearing. He activated his duel-disk coolly without even glancing at ours friends and his little brother that were tied to the tree.

"Zane? There's no time to duel! We've got to get them down before—"

"Are you honestly that dull Jaden?" Zane asked, well it sounded like more a statement but whatever. He drew his five cards. "If you can defeat me, I'll let your friends go. If you refuse..." he trailed off as a few shrouded figures melded out of the forest behind him. I got the message.

"Zane!!" I roared, that strange anger reappearing in flashes. "These people are our friends! Syrus is your brother!! Have you gone off the deep end?!"

He continued to stare with a cold passion down at me, a thirst for power evident in those teal irises. My fists clenched tightly at his lack of reaction. This was his family and friends that he's threatening to hurt and he doesn't even care?!

"Fine," I snarled when he didn't reply. My voice startled me slightly, I have never heard myself sound so... so... they haven't even invented a word to show how livid, murderous, and furious I sounded! I snapped the shock things on unconsciously without fumbling over any of the spikes as if I did this every day. Zane is going to rue the day that he crossed us. I'll make him pay.

I have the power to do that...

I chuckled bitterly in my head. If only Haou were actually real, I might have to unleash him on Zane...

Whoa, wait, what am I thinking?! Zane may be acting like a creep, but I can't set a sick murderer psychopath like Haou on him!

Well... okay he didn't actually murder anyone...

And he's a figment of my imagination... but still.

My duel-disk was activated, bringing its faint red light to the dark arena. Without any conscious thought, I drew my cards and waited for Zane to make the first move. I wasn't messing around in this duel at all. I was going to beat him this time, and beat him badly for what he had done to my friends. He was going to pay.

"Duel!"

* * *

"Alright Hassleberry, I've got the signal, stay put and we'll come to you," Bastion said shortly. "I've already sent a message to Atticus with Ms. Fontaine to tell Chancellor Sheppard about the kidnappings." Blair muttered something in the background and then Bastion switched the screen so that Hassleberry could no longer see them anymore.

"So Serge," Hassleberry started, turning around to talk to Jaden. His breath left his being in a startled gasp. Jaden was gone! "Mayday! Mayday!" Hassleberry started shouting in his PDA. "The Serge went MIA! Pick up the pace soldiers!"

"Shut-up dino-breath!" Chazz shouted from the device. "We're almost there. Just wait five minutes!"

"But something could happen to the Serge!"

"Jaden is quite capable of protecting himself Hassleberry. He's also pointed out that he is not their intended target... or perhaps he is... these people could be using the others as bait to lure Jaden into a trap!"

"That's it, I'm outta here!" Hassleberry shouted, running in a random direction. "Serge?! Jay?! Where are ya soldier?!"

"Hey moron!" Chazz shouted again, earning an irritated sigh from Bastion. "You don't even know where he is! Calm down into we get there and then The Chazz can lead you to him!"

"Wha? But you don't know where the Serge is either soldier!"

"No, but these guys do," Chazz said, switching the visual back on the show them the Ojama Trio cards. Hassleberry gave him a weird look; used to the action from Jaden but completely caught off guard that Chazz was into the whole 'I can see my cards' thing too.

"Then why didn't you use 'em to lead us to Private Trusedale?" Hassleberry demanded loudly into the machine, his eyes flickering into dino-mode.

Chazz scoffed at the other end and Blair looked at the older boy curiously. "Because they say other annoyances are getting in their way and preventing them from finding them."

"You mean duel-spirits?" Blair inserted assertively, glaring at the raven-haired student. Chazz scoffed again and said no. Blair glared at him, her hands on her hips, and then spoke to Bastion. "Come on! We have to rescue my Jadey!" Her long purple hair covered the screen for a second and then Hassleberry could hear their frantic footsteps from his left. He turned and waited impatiently for his friends and then took off the second they were at his side. "So Chazzy, where is he?"

Chazz glared at the younger duelist pointedly and made his way to the front of the group, effectively leading them to Jaden. Suddenly he stopped, causing Hassleberry to slam into him, then Bastion, and finally Blair. In the huge heap on the forest floor, Chazz cursed loudly and shouted something at thin air, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIND HIM ANYMORE YOU IDIOTS?!"

The Ojama Trio (unseen by the other confused duelists) cowered in fear from their master and went into a group hug. "We tried boss but they blocked us again!"

"Who's 'they'?!" Chazz snapped at Ojama Yellow. He wormed his way out of the pile and stood, brushing himself off in a dignified way.

The Ojama's looked at each other uncertainly. "We don't know. They're just some kind of duel spirits like us, that's the only kind of thing that can block us. But there have got to be lots of them to outdo the three of us together." Chazz rolled his eyes.

"I doubt that." He aimed a punch at his duel spirits and they vanished. "So we know Jaden's somewhere in this general direction," Chazz said to the grumbling students beside him. "All we have to do is wait for someone to start a duel with him and we can follow the sounds of the game. Nothing a great detective like The Chazz can't handle!"

They all groaned.

* * *

"Armored Cybern in defense mode and set one card face-down," Zane said simply, proving that even now he was a man of few words. I drew my next card fiercely, barely even glancing at it, and then slammed Sparkman down onto the field.

"I summon Sparkman in Attack mode (Atk: 1600)! And then I'll play polymerization to fuse Sparkman and Clayman to summon Thunder Giant in Attack mode (Atk: 2400)! And you remember his effect, right?" I smirked cockily at my opponent, who had still not responded. My monster complied swiftly, blasting Armored Cybern into oblivion. "Now direct attack!"

Thunder Giant leapt into the air and drew his hand back, unleashing a torrent of electrical energy and successfully destroying Zane's life points to 1600. The man in black did not even flinch as his life points dropped and his collar shocked him. He simply smirked as if he expected me to destroy his monster.

My guard was up now, with Zane it was always impossible to tell what was up his sleeves, and I had a bad feeling that I was about to find out. I looked through my hand quickly and smiled. "I play one card face down and that's all for now."

"Woo-who! Kick his but Jaden!" Driana cheered suddenly from the sidelines. I glanced over at her in surprise, only to find that she was sticking her tongue out at Zane. Alexis gave her a strange look and then looked back at me as if she was comparing us. I tore my gaze away from their chains and focused again on Zane just in time to see him draw his card.

Placing a card onto his duel-disk, he said, "I summon Bomber Dragon in Attack mode! Attack his Thunder Giant!"

I grimaced, remembering Bomber Dragon's ability from Syrus' duel against Zane. Thunder Giant was toast 'cuz of Bomber Dragon's special ability. Now both of our monsters were instantly destroy without Zane losing any points. Syrus' astonished gasp of recognition snapped me out of my thoughts and reminded me that they were in terrible danger if I lost. I couldn't make any more mistakes!

A bomb was thrown from the dragon's talons and exploded on contact against my monster. I threw up my hands in some type of defense as the winds whipped around me, cursing under my breath when Zane played his next card. "Quick Summon! Now I can normal summon one monster from my hand onto the field and I choose Hell Dragon (Atk: 2000, Def: 0)!" Syrus and I both looked unnerved; Zane had done the exact same thing to my little friend before. "Direct Attack!"

I eyed my facedown quickly, wondering if I should activate it now. This would knock out half of my life points, but I'd still be ahead of Zane and I could save this for a time when I really needed it. A sharp intake of breath from Alexis made me react. I couldn't risk anything. I had to save every life point that I had and make sure that Zane went down hard. "I activate Flute of Summoning Kuriboh!" I shouted, waving my hand over the card. My fuzzy little friend appeared on the field only to be blown away by Hell Dragon's attack. But now my life points were safe and so were my friends. "Thanks Kuriboh."

_Kuri..._ he answered as I put his card in the grave.

I felt a smile tug at my lips but banished it. I had to stay focused. I had to make Zane pay.

"Clever," Zane said simply, but I wasn't sure whether it was a compliment or an insult to be honest. I settled with giving him what I sincerely hoped was a dirty look and drawing my card. I smirked at my newest addition and played it quickly.

"I play Graceful Charity and draw three cards, but I have to ditch two of them!" I announced, drawing again. Perfect! I slid Neos and Necroshade into the graveyard with Zane watching intently. "Now I play O-Oversoul to summon Elemental Hero Neos!" My alien friend burst into existence with a determined call, tensed and ready to assault Zane's Hell Dragon. Zane did not make any acclamations of Neos not being in my graveyard, he had already figured out that Graceful Charity had set this play up. "Now attack his Hell Dragon Neos!"

"Nice try," Zane coolly said. I looked up at him in surprise and then at Neos who had stopped and was now standing on my field again.

"Huh? Neos?"

"I discarded Cyber Vary, which allows me to end your battle phase and draw one card." Which he did. All I could do was glower and set two facedown cards, leaving me with nothing in my hand. Or at least, until the end of my turn. Zane drew.

"I activate mirage of nightmares!" I announced, flipping up my old card. "I can draw four cards from my deck, but then I have to get rid of four cards in my hand when my turn comes again." Zane rolled his teal eyes at my old strategy, but it was also one of my strongest combinations. Fours cards and one thousand life point boost after I activate Emergency Provisions!

My friend-turned-enemy opened his mouth and taunted me, like I had been expecting him to. "All this time and the best thing you can come up with is that ridiculous weak strategy? Pity, I was expecting more of a challenge from you Jaden. I thought you were better than this."

"You still haven't been able to stop it!" I shot back, none of my usual playful banter entering my voice. Zane regarded me carefully, as if he were dissecting the angered tone that I had just addressed him with. Then he laughed bitterly and nothing in particular, ruffling my feathers so to speak, and played a spell of his own.

"Pot of Greed," was his nonchalant response. He drew wordlessly. "I activate Polymerization!" Zane announced, and we all learned forward in surprise. "I fuse together, from my hand, one Cyber Dragon and my Cyber Dark Horn to summon, Chimeratech Fortress Dragon!" I stepped back in surprise as the new monster took the field, feeling vulnerable, until I saw its attack points... which were zero. What was Zane playing at? "Attack Neos!"

"What?! You have gone nuts! Neos is way more powerful than that thing!" Driana exclaimed for me on the sidelines. She banged her chains against the tree in vain and then looked me square in the eye. I looked away, the powerful constricting longing only making my strange anger appear again, as if I was reacting to the way Zane had treated her in particular. Zane glared at Driana coldly, and then at me, scaring me slightly. He looked a lot like Haou right then. "You are wrong to think that Neos has more power just because he has more attack points _Jaden_." I disliked how he said my name right then, he made me sound like some kind of worthless trash. "Just watch and see what true power looks like."

Sure enough—and startling enough—Neos was easily destroyed by the dragon, which remained unharmed. "So what's his abili— Ahh!"

Screaming and surprised, I fell down to one knee as I lost four hundred of my life points. That's not what brought me down, oh no, it was the surprise of hearing my three friends crying out as well, and feeling more than just my own jolt of electricity running through the air. Not that I'm saying it didn't hurt—because, trust me, it did. I couldn't fool myself into thinking that it didn't. The physical pain faded away quickly when I heard my friends in danger. I was back on my feet even while the stupid collar was shocking me, and I was gaping in horror as the chains that held my friends captive also electrified them.

"You lose 400 life points and I don't take damage," Zane's cruel laughter didn't even register in my head until they stopped writhing and were looking at him with burning anger in their eyes. Even Syrus seemed angry at his older brother.

"Zane!" he shouted loudly, making me start. "Why are you doing this to Jaden?! You can just duel him without hurting us too!! You don't have to bring him emotional pain as well!!"

Wait—they get shocked because I lose life points and they're still worried about me?!

"Zip it Syrus," I snapped, startling everyone within hearing. My friend looked up at me, offended, but I couldn't bring myself to take it back. Hearing that just brought that feeling roaring back for some reason... it was like he was saying I couldn't handle myself or something just because they were in danger. I've done it before and gotten through fine!! Why is he saying this now? I tried to make amends by adding, "Zane's not going to listen to you or anyone else right now. I just need you guys to stay calm, alright? I don't want you to get hurt and I think yelling at him won't help it." They continued to stare at me, all of them. Was it really so shocking that I had just said something half-way logical? "And anyway, I'm fine. I don't like seeing you get hurt"—something gleamed in Zane's eyes—"but I'm not going to let that bring me down. Don't worry about me. We'll all make it out okay if we just keep our heads."

Alexis' eyes bored into mine, and the feeling of anger and something else that I still couldn't define got stronger. She was chained up, beat up, and now electrocuted? What did she do to deserve this? Was their pain all because Zane wanted to get to me? Was I the root of my friend's suffering? Was I the one at fault?

Syrus' wounded expression faded and he gave me a reassuring smile. Alexis closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath to slow her hammering heart. Driana banged her chains against the tree again and gave me a passionate look that I also failed to define. What was that? Was she angry at me? But she was smiling even though she had been zapped because I failed to protect my life points. Then I knew the look that filled their eyes. Trust. They all trusted me enough to think that I could get them out of this situation.

"I beg to differ Jaden," Zane announced. It took me no time to instantly snap my attention to him and let my undefined emotion spill out at him through my blazing eyes.

I made a rather twitchy smile at him and said through clenched teeth, "Oh really? How?"

He smirked and I regretted asking. "Go, Hell Dragon, why don't you show him."

Ah, crap.

This time I fell to the ground because of the initial attack, not because of the shock collars or my friends, but because of the blast itself. Somewhere before the attack I knew I activated emergency provisions, but it didn't help to soften the blow. I was slammed off of my feet and onto the dirt so that I was seeing the swirling dark clouds above me before my vision was obscured by the waves of red-black electricity. I felt a horrible, tortured scream escape from my friends and then my own pained one made its attempts at freedom.

I sprang back on my feet, banishing the unsteadiness in my stance and my pounding heart. My concern was immediately focused on my friends. They were all grimacing, barely holding out too. I bit my lip in anxiety. They wouldn't be able to take another hit like that... and I'm not sure that I can either.

Jaden: 2600 (4 cards in hand, no monsters, no facedowns)

Zane: 1600 (2 monsters, 3 card in hand)

"I place two cards facedown, that's all."

I let out a sigh of relief I hadn't known was there. No more attacks that turn and I have a chance to build up my field again. He could have beaten me that turn...

But I won't let that happen to my friends!

I spared a chance at the figures hovering just out of my view, waiting for me to lose, waiting to hurt my friends. It made my blood boil that Zane would sink this low just to fight with me. "My turn, draw!"

My head felt like it was being split in two and my vision went tunnel on me. I swayed on my feet, alarmed, until my world came back into focus; somehow it was clearer, more precise. Unnerved, I glanced at my card and then I balked. It was Polymerization, like I had used before, but this time it was different. The image on the card seemed to be caught between two different options, phases, whatever you'd call it. One was normal, the other was completely dark. Shivering, I put that card in my hand and seized up my options.

A smirk appeared on my face. "I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in attack mode!" My red-clad female monster appeared in a ball of fire. "And next I'll activate Burst impact! This card sends all of the monsters except for Burstinatrix to the graveyard and you take 300 points for each of them! So that's six hundred points!" Burstinatrix sent out a cascading wave of fire that engulfed Zane's monsters easily.

Once again, the electricity did nothing to the dark duelist as he lost 600 life points.

"Now, direct attack, end this!" I cried.

"Not so fast, I activate Power Wall!" Zane announced, flipping open his face down. I winced. "So I ditch twelve cards and your attack in worthless!" A blue shield surrounded Zane, protecting him from the fire. This duel was far from over. "Next I'll activate Samsara Dogma. This lets me turn all monsters in the graveyard into machine-type, including your heroes."

Jaden: 2600

Zane: 1000

"I'll place two cards facedown and end." I felt my body tense in fear when Zane drew his card. I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid of what would happen if I lost, if my friends were hurt. Let's face it, the best I've been able to do to Zane is tie with him, I've never beaten him!

"Graceful Charity," he said, drawing three cards and ditching two. "And another Pot of Greed... how misfortunate for you. Luck can't always be on your side Jaden, you need power!"—he drew two more cards—"Now, I think its time I ended this duel. I was hoping for a better challenge." My eyes narrowed, but I didn't bite. "I activate diffusion to split Cyber Dragon and Cyber Dark Horn. Then I'll activate Overload Fusion which allows me to remove Cyber Dark Horn on my field, Cyber Dark Keel and Cyber Dark Edge from my graveyard, to summon Cyber Dark Dragon in attack mode!"

The feared and completely dark dragon loomed onto the field, glaring at my steady hero through glowing eyes. "And I can add one of my monsters to his attack points from the grave, so I'll chose Neos. Oh, and Jaden, his attack points increase by 100 for every monster card in my graveyard. This duel is as good as over."

(Atk: 4100) (All thanks to Power Wall basically)

"You've gone soft Jaden! I expected more of a match from you! Go, Cyber Dark Dragon!"

"I activate my facedown, Solemn Judgment!" I cried, preparing myself for the hit. "I give up half of my life points, so I can get rid of Samsara Dogma! So now Neos is a hero again and Cyber Dark Dragon can't use it for energy!"

CDD: Atk: 2100

My life points plummeted down to 1300 and I screamed from the shock. It felt like every fiber of my being was being slowly lit on fire and burned to ashes. When it finally stopped, I almost fell over, but then Zane's attack hit.

That knocked me right over in my flimsy state before the shocks rang through my distressed body. I couldn't even shout again, but I could hear my friends hollering and suffering as the relentless attack took effect on them. One by one they fell silent, leaving me struggling alone with the electricity.

The shock kept coming and coming from the high-cost attack and I couldn't help but wonder how Zane had handled the blast I had given him with Thunder Giant. Then all stray thoughts were chased away as we all writhed and thrashed around for several minutes. The shock finally stopped. I don't know how long I was on the ground, but I knew that I couldn't hear my friends anymore.

"I'll place one card facedown," Zane finished.

Jaden: 400

Zane: 1000

"Do you forfeit Jaden? Do you honestly not have enough power to stand?" Zane taunted from somewhere far away.

Electricity was still buzzing through me, and I knew that I should be down and out from a blast that long—that intense. But I wasn't. I was on hyper-alert, and my friends were in danger. I couldn't back down. I couldn't let them down. With visibly shaking limbs, I forced my jerky body to kneel in the dry grass and then forced myself to stand. My eyes couldn't see for several unsettling minutes, and then I didn't want them to when I was able to make out the blurred shapes. Suddenly, my knees buckled and I was back on the floor again. I felt like my heart and mind were fighting, my heart insisting that I could carry on and my mind forcibly reminding my heart that I was only human and I couldn't take any more abuse.

I heard a surprising sigh of disappointment coming from Zane. "You know Jaden; I was hoping that you could entertain me in my rise of power. You were the only one that was left who had tied with me after all. And yet you can't seem to recover from a simple attack like this. It's a pity. I never thought that you were so weak."

"He's not weak."

* * *

**(3rd person POV)**

Her lips twisted into her trademark devilish snarl as she watched the events unfold in front of her. She saw Jaden's inner struggle as clearly as day through the lenses, and she just knew that Jaden was the one. The door opened behind her and several other people came to watch the show. Turning back to the screen, she flashed an eerily fast nod to their 'master' as Zane had called him.

Do I have to? Was not a question that she should or could ask right now. Artemis knew she had to help out in Zane's mission, and for once she was delighted to do so. Little Zaney was about to find out why it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to cross her. Because when you cross her, your cross Driana. And when you cross Driana, you cross her target. And when you cross her target...

Her eyes glinted with malice.

... You pay with your life.

Her hands folded over each other and she removed her fingerless glove that she had always worn, revealing a small marking of her own. It glowed softly in the light darkness that filled the room and she could sense its affect on him even from this far away. There, now there was no way he was getting up without asking for help from a certain... dark someone with the power to end it all.

* * *

**(Driana's POV)**

I gazed down at Jaden's shaking form, at his inner struggle to keep going, and at the scorching hatred and determination in his eyes as Zane told him that he was weak and useless. Alexis and Syrus were already out of the picture, the sudden shock completely overwhelming their normal systems, but I was much stronger. I had plenty of endurance left, and I knew Jaden did too if he could just get back on his feet. He was remarkably strong and driven for a person who had just been shocked within an inch of a heart-attack. "He's not weak," I repeated, and this time he gazed at me. I knew what he saw when he did that. He saw me being meek, defenseless, and barely conscious with my less-than-half-lidded-eyes. What he and Zane saw was the last one standing in Jaden's rank of friends, and the one who would join them in la-la land soon. They saw my sweat-streaked face, the faint tears of pain in my eyes, and the limpness in which I forced my body to hold itself.

Zane chuckled. "Why do you say that?"

This was it; this was my part in the game, my ultimate goal... well almost. I shifted my startling blue eyes to Jaden, who was still on his hands and knees as if thinking along the lines of what Zane said. I had them both like silly putty in my hands, ready to mold and shape this duel into something completely new and unseen. Ready to put an end to the fool and reveal the king. But I couldn't force it, no, that would rip Jaden's mind apart, but I had to put the right kind of hatred in him, I had to make him hate Zane, hate everything about him. And to do that, I had to make him love me. Love me enough to hate seeing me hurt. Love me enough to hate me.

But it felt like it was too soon to let him know, too soon to dash into this! I had only known him for a few days as far as he remembers. How can I manipulate his feelings enough to make him feel the same way? I needed more time! Or a miracle...

"Because... I've always... heard about him... he's always come through..." I began, adding pauses and pants in my sentences. He was staring at me now, and he started to slowly pick himself up. He fell back down again. "No matter how... impossible... it always seems... he'd never let a friend down... he will always keep fighting... he's..." I stopped talking, my eyelids starting to drop dramatically. The panic and fear that clouded Jaden's eyes made me stop, made me reconsider, but it was too late to stop what had been started. I knew who Jaden was now. No one else would still be conscious after receiving that big of a run in with electricity. His heart was already beating wildly above what most humans should have been able to take, but he was still here, still looking at me. "... A hero... and I know... he can... make it... I know him... In just... these short days... I've learned to... trust him... and because... Because I think... I think I..."

They were all staring at me, Zane, Jaden, my partners in crime. All of them were curious to hear what I had to say. The glowing of the camera lens suddenly reminded me that they would all be watching, and that I really had no choice if Jaden was to remain physically unharmed. So I did it, I forced Jaden's already accelerated heart to beat wildly with excitement at my attention, at the look of pure loyalty and devotion in my closing eyes. I could tell that he could feel it, feel the painful longing instilled within him, and now that he was weak it was more effective. I felt that he wanted me to be with him, to stay conscious, but I knew that he knew that I couldn't. I had my part to play and I would play it until the end. I had no other option if I wanted all of this to end.

"... I think I..." I directed my hazy gaze at the young brunette on the ground and said three words that would both terrify him and condemn him... words that I have said so many times, in so many ways, and they were never true. The only time I did not get to say them was when I actually had felt it for someone. My eyes closed. "I love you."

I 'fainted'.

Even though my eyes were closed, I felt him stop moving and heard him suck in a stunned breath. I knew he was still watching me, that he hadn't registered the fact that I had just left him alone too. The fact that I said I loved him. I knew he was confused. I knew Artemis wouldn't let him get up until he gave in. I knew he didn't know what love was. I knew he really loved someone else. He didn't know any of this. But innocence can't save him right now, it could only hurt him. What he felt for me was artificial, was fake in every possible way, and what he felt for her was true, but he didn't know this. No one could when I was around to mess with their emotions. I've muddled up so many lives and torn apart so many happily ever afters, and here I was again, in the same spot, creating another disaster, but a bigger one than before.

I heard the grass crunch as he finally swayed to his feet, felt the confusion slowly focus on his enemy and manifest into anger and hatred, and felt the subtle shift in his heart as the darkness we had been searching for seized its chance to take control. He said something to Zane that I didn't understand because of my concentration and then a noise made me listen. Zane had gasped. Zane never gasped. It wasn't in Zane's nature to gasp!!

I chanced a cracked open eyelid and then closed it immediately. Oh God, what have I done?

* * *

**(Jaden POV)**

"He's not weak... He's not weak."

Her voice sounded tired and on the edge of collapse, but I felt myself relax when I heard it. I couldn't really see her or anyone else for that matter. Everything was just a big blob of confusing colors and blurs. Her outline was fuzzy, but I still was able to comprehend her sparkling eyes and the limp way her body held itself against the bark. My feeble line of vision slurred over to Alexis and saw that she wasn't moving and her own shining eyes weren't looking into mine. A pang entered my heart, and I still couldn't decipher any of my emotions. I felt similar to that of what I feel when I look at Driana, but it was more intense, more focused, and clearer. It felt like my heart was breaking because I longed to see her awake again.

I forced myself to look at Syrus, also limp and lifeless, and I felt my eyes start to sting. My throat constricted at the sight of my friends so hurt, so defenseless, and it was my fault.

"Why do you say that?" Zane chuckled, amused at our pain. I felt my expression darken. His brother and his friend are unconscious and all he can do is laugh at their misery and torment? This was not the Zane I knew and respected. This was some kind of twisted monster; some fiend in place of the noble duelist tat preceded him. This 'Zane' should be gotten rid of. The question itself proved it.

Why would anyone think that I, while I'm on the ground and my friends are hurt, would be able to stand and come back with an impossible victory? My eyes adjusted and focused on my surroundings.

Because he's watched me do a thousand times!! And now it's his turn to be on the receiving end!! I still have life points left! He has more on the field, but I have more in my hand! And he better believe that I'd rather die than give up on the people that I care about!!

"Because... I've always... heard about him... he's always come through..."

I was viewing her again, and I felt every single emotion, every single thought I've had about her come blossoming back into reality. My feet started their wobbly goal again, and I managed to stand for a brief moment before tumbling back to the unforgiving ground.

"No matter how... impossible... it always seems... he'd never let a friend down... he will always keep fighting... he's..."

She stopped talking, her eyelids starting to drop dramatically. I felt panicked and sick, she just looked so weak and fragile staring at me like that. Some feeling was gathering in my chest along with the unexplained longing, and I felt my eyes widen with horror. I was afraid to lose her too. I, Jaden Yuki, was actually afraid of something. It shocked me more than it should have, I've felt fear before in my first and second year, but I've never felt something this powerful. Along with it came something else, a hazy image just on the edges of my consciousness.

A girl with long black and blue-streaked hair reached out to me, her eyes matching those before me. She was pleading with me, held in the arms of someone I didn't recognize. He looked like a doctor. I stretched my arms towards her and cried out her name, but someone was pulling me away too. The door closed and she screamed...

My heart rate sped up and I stared at her. The connection grew stronger. Driana and that girl must be one and the same... so she had known me somewhere before, that's why I felt so comfortable around her when I wasn't making an idiot out of myself or plagued with this longing. That's what all of this was! I knew her from before! But from where? Why can't I remember?!

What's happening to me?!

I looked deep into her eyes, a new understanding flooding through me. What I felt for her now then, what was it? "... A hero... and I know... he can... make it... I know him... In just... these short days... I've learned to... trust him... and because... Because I think... I think I..."

I kept staring at her, and I could barely make out Zane doing the same thing, curious to as what she was going to say. That longing increased again as I saw her physically struggle to get her thoughts of me out on the playing field. She looked like she had something incredibly important to say to me, and her eyes were almost pleading that she could finish her sentence before fainting. I didn't bother to fight it this time, I trusted her enough to let it just lead me along.

"... I think I...I love you."

I froze, any thoughts I had just been forming were now shattered. Love? She loved me?

...What does that even mean for us? Confused now more than ever, and hurt as I watched her faint without me being able to answer her, I simply watched her. I don't know what to do. She had just told me that she loved me. I've only known her for a few days!! But... still... that feeling that I get when she's around. But...

...I had almost told Alexis I loved her.

Am I in love with Alexis or Driana? What is love anyway?! Isn't it supposed to be something wonderful and amazing? Well I don't think so! The only thing all of this love has brought me is pain and confusion! And it's the same for them, for my friends! That must be why Zane kidnapped Driana and Alexis, because I loved one of them! Is it really that obvious? Did my ignorance of love bring this fate onto them? What should I do? What can I do?

**_There's nothing you can do Jaden, other than to accept it. Accept the fact the love only caused you pain. Accept the fact that her love for us only caused her pain. Accept it, and then do something to change it._**

Haou?

This couldn't be real, this couldn't be happening. Driana loves me, there's a voice in my head, and all of the people I care about are either unconscious or out of their minds with worry for us! But... Driana trusted Haou in my nightmares. She pulled me towards him and away from the light of destruction. She trusts him, and I know that he is powerful enough to get back on my feet and help me pummel Zane.

Zane.

I saw red. He was the one that set all of this up! He's the one who hurt my friends, not me! If he had not kidnapped my friends, Driana wouldn't have confessed like this! It's all Zane's fault! He's the one to blame! That is the monster that needs to be destroyed!! And...

I glanced at my still companions one last time from the ground.

And I said that I'd do anything for them. And that includes giving this bastard what he deserves.

Darkness claimed my vision before disappearing, flooding my body with strength and redirecting my anger and hatred towards Zane. I felt my lips twist into an evil smirk as I slowly stood and faced Zane, my eyes closed from all of the hatred running through me. "Alexis, Driana, Syrus... they shouldn't have received pain like this. Do you think that I'd let a monster who hurt my friends win?!" I snarled, facing Zane with narrowed eyes. I looked up, and Zane gasped and took a slight step back.

_**Took you long enough.**_

* * *

The next thing I knew, a pair of ebony eyes were directly over me. I jumped and instinctively rolled out from the gaze... well tried to anyway. "Ack!" I exclaimed as Chazz grabbed me and held me still. His eyes bored into mine strangely, and I found I didn't have the strength to meet them. What had happened? "Arrgh, my head," I complained, half-sitting and putting my hand up to my pounding temples.

Blair barreled onto me suddenly and I gasped. "Oh Jadey we were so worried! We were looking for you for forever! What happened?"

I shook my head, trying to clear it. Wait, Jadey? I spared a glance at my life points and found them at four hundred. So I had won? But I don't remember...

Wait, where am I?

I jerked up and took in my new white surroundings anxiously. Oh, I was just back in the place that I had escaped from, the infirmary. Alright, where were Zane, Alexis, Driana, and Syrus then?

Surprised, I twisted to see Zane occupying the bed next to me and my female friends in the next two, with Syrus on my other side. Chazz was watching my movements intensely as if he was in his detective mode. I smiled at him sheepishly and started to walk over to see if Alexis, Driana, and Syrus were alright.

"Hold up Slacker," Chazz argued roughly. I blinked at him. He pointed to my neck and then my wrists. "We need to know what happened."

"Oh," I said in a rather hoarse voice. Grimacing, I gently rolled up my sleeves and looked at the eaten up skin. It was dark red and black in some areas, burned badly. Surprisingly I felt no pain from it, so I just stared at it. So did Chazz and Blair.

"Slacker, what did Zane do?" Chazz continued angrily.

"He kidnapped them," I answered monotonously. "And he hooked them up to that tree and told me I'd have to beat him to free them."

"Why?" Hassleberry asked, walking up next to me. I looked at his face, still unable to figure out what had happened.

"He wanted to make sure I was giving it my all."

"No, why did he duel you?" Hassleberry clarified.

"'Cuz I tied with him in his last year and he wanted to settle the score," I replied simply, no emotion entering my voice. Was I in shock? I think I may be.

"Well, you won!" Blair announced while glomping onto me again. "My Jadey always saves the day!"

I groaned slightly, and Ms. Fontaine materialized by my side. She checked my pulse and let out a startled squeak, which didn't help my headache in the least. Everyone stopped what they were doing and their eyes fell on me, intensely worried. I didn't look that bad, did I?

"Jaden, you need to lie down and relax," she started in a rushed tone. "Your heartbeat is far above what it should be, you shouldn't even be conscious now."

I managed a grin at my teacher. "Yeah, but when does that stop me?" She bit her lip and pushed me down rather forcefully. "Why are you so worried?" I wondered suddenly.

Her eyes shifted to meet mine. "If it goes any higher you could have a heart attack."

Oh, lovely, now everyone around me went into panic mode. Chazz and Bastion hauled the covers over me and the others checked the other's heart rates and Ms. Fontaine was instructing me to do deep breathing or something. For my part, I tuned them out and watched my other friends being checked up. I growled slightly in aggravation, I hated feeling so helpless. I couldn't even get up and walk on my own without one of them snapping at me to keep my heart rate down.

"Ugh," came a feminine voice to my right. My eyes widened and I snapped my head over to the voice belonging to Driana. She was the first one awake and the last one to go? How did that work? "Jaden?" she asked as she opened her eyes. She looked at Chancellor Sheppard (who had been strangely quiet) uncertainly and then swept the area with her beautiful gaze. Her eyes landed on me and she smiled. "Hiya, Jaden. You're alright now? No more head injuries?"

I nodded and managed a smile back at her. "So are you, I was worried."

She laughed loudly, startling a few of our friends. "I had the great Jaden Yuki worried? Who said that he'd get us all out of that mess, huh Jay? " she teased me. I stared at her blankly. Hadn't she said that she loved me? And this is all she has to say about it?

Can she even remember telling me her secret?

"Wait... why were you worried?" Driana started and looked wildly around. "Whoa, where am I? What happened? How'd I get here?"

"In order," Chazz started rudely, "the infirmary, you got shocked, and I carried you."

"I got shocked?"

"You mean you can't remember?" I asked suddenly, and slightly hopefully. I wasn't ready to answer her unasked question; did I love her too?

"Nuh-uh. Did I fall down the stairs again or something?" she wondered, directing the question at me. I chuckled a little bit; she had fallen down the stairs to the Slifer Dorm the day I was released from here.

"Not this time," I grinned while running my free hand through my hair. I flinched when I encountered my injury from last night. Ouch, I forgot.

"So what happened then? I didn't fall into the bathtub with my hair dryer?"

"Yes, Jaden, why don't you tell us all what happened and why Mr. Trusedale is in this condition," Chancellor Sheppard spoke up.

"What's his condition?" I inquired, not liking the tone that his voice was in. His eyes met mine, narrowed.

"He's in a coma."

"What?!"

"Now wait just a second," Ms. Fontaine argued with her finger wagging in his face. "He needs to rest. Don't excite him!"

Chancellor Sheppard looked ready to argue so I interfered, "Uh, you should probably listen to her Teach." The whole chasing scene was still pretty vivid in my mind. But what had caused Zane to fall into a coma? We weren't in a shadow duel were we? Why can't I remember anything after Driana saying she loved me?! Why?!

He raised an eyebrow and Driana stood as if confused still.

"Hold everything, what's going on? Why can't Jay talk about it yet?"

"Slacker could get a heart attack if his heart beats any faster," Chazz answered in a bored tone. He sat next to Atticus, who had been staring at his little sister silently this entire time. I had to look away, ashamed that I had let that happen to her.

"What?!" Driana cried. She practically bolted to my side. Her hand found my wrist and she took my pulse silently with everyone watching her with a bit of curiosity. My shoulders unwound and my muscles stopped tensing. I found that my heart wasn't pounding so rapidly anymore, and that her touch was surprisingly cold and numbing. I almost asked her if she had dipped her hand in ice water.

But as my gaze flickered upwards towards her eyes, something caught mine at the base of her collarbone. Not the light burns coursing down her torso from the electricity, but a small area that was glowing softly. I squinted and was able to decipher a weird looking symbol that struck a chord somewhere in my muddled memory banks. What was that?

She let go of my wrist with a relieved sigh. "I thought you're in trouble with all of those shocks. But you're normal." I held her gaze steadily, searching her sapphire irises for any sign of the powerfully painful emotion that she claimed to feel for me. Her eyes caught mine and softened, a light blush decorating her face. Then she appeared alarmed and walked stiffly back to her bed and sat down, staring at the ground as if startled. Worried that I had just hurt another one of my friends, I started to stand but Chancellor Sheppard pushed me down.

"What?" Ms. Fontaine exclaimed. "But that's impossible!" she exclaimed after checking my amazingly leveled-out pulse.

"Yeah, but it's me/him," Driana and I answered at the same time. We looked at each other, surprised, and then back at her again. I wouldn't let it show, but I felt a blush starting to rise within me. I just don't understand what's happening to me!

She sighed and rubbed her head, muttering something about an aspirin. Chancellor Sheppard stared at me encouragingly and I found that I had forgotten the question I was supposed to be answering. "So Jaden, what happened?"

Oh.

I started out slowly, describing to them my trek from escaping the hospital to Zane's challenge. I was unable to keep the burning anger out of my voice when I described exactly what Zane had done to my friends and why; just so he could make sure I was giving him my all so he could become more powerful. They were watching my every emotion like hawks, especially the teenage female, I noticed. I continued to show a blow-by-blow duel with Zane and the pain that the collars took on all of us. Here Dri called out a cry of recognition and said, "I remember!"

I nodded to her and continued, conveniently leaving out the part about Driana being conscious for a slight while longer than everyone else. Then I stopped, and my eyes widened.

Oh shit.

... I can't remember anything except for hearing Haou! He must have taken over somehow!

"Jaden?" Atticus prompted. "Earth to Jaden. What happened next?"

I don't remember because I gave into a crazy evil psychopath named Haou!

"I can't remember," I gasped, my lips barely moving. The room suddenly felt like it was closing in on me. The walls seemed to grow larger and the white background grew duller until I was certain I was sitting back in my nightmare again. The others seemed to be moving really slowly and their eyes had gained a bit of skepticism.

What was I thinking?! He could have hurt the others too! He could have killed Zane!!

"You can't...?" Blair repeated. I forced my overworked mind to shut out the pressing walls and study what she was saying instead. "But you're the first one to beat Zane sine he's gotten his new deck! You have to remember!"

I shook my head wildly, my hair flying everywhere. "I don't." I felt a hand grip mine and saw Driana's concern lighting up the room. The pressing darkness hesitated at her touch, and I breathed in relief. I managed a meek smile and then leaned back against the wall with closed eyes. "I can't remember anything at all."

**_And whose fault is that?_**

Oh Ra, he's still there. Go away, please just go away.

**_You were the one who wanted my help, and you were to one who wanted to hurt him like he had hurt your friends._**

Shut-up! That wasn't me! It was you! You're the one who hurt him!

"Are you alright Jaden?" Bastion interrupted suddenly, probably to my panicked expression. I bit my lip and nodded, physically unable to do anything else. Of course, he didn't buy it. But thankfully when everyone was about to freak out on me, Alexis woke up. And she didn't do it quietly either; she did it with a bang.

"Jaden!!" she screamed, jumping up and thus onto her brother. I started and banged my head against the wall—I'll feel that in the morning—as I turned my attention to my other female friend. Her eyes focused and searched the room, observing the light burns on Driana and then coming to a halt on me. The next this I knew she was in my arms holding me as if I was going to vanish. "You're alright," she breathed, seemingly chocked up with emotion. Instantly, I found myself with a guilty expression and eyeing Driana. Now that I knew about her feelings, how could I not feel awkward now while she was watching?

Not that it didn't feel nice to have Alexis hugging me; that would be a lie if I said it. Let's face it, I haven't been entirely honest to myself, I liked this feeling somewhere and it felt very warm, polar opposite to the comforting cold that Driana's touch had inflicted on me. My arms moved around her mechanically and she buried her intelligent head in my shoulder. "I'm fine," I assured her tenderly. "It's alright Lex."

The faltering darkness that had come to me in my paranoid and shaken state receded back to where it had came when she looked up at me again. I couldn't help but feel safe and smile.

She laughed, her entire form shaking as she did it, and drew away, her face a vibrant shade of embarrassed red. Apparently the Queen of Obelisk Blue wasn't used to showing that much emotion and was self-conscious about doing it with, let's see, the chancellor, all of our friends, and our teacher/nurse watching.

**_That's not it_**, Haou idly remarked, and I jumped again. **_Don't misplace care and amity_**.

Nervously, I patted down next to me and Alexis accepted the offer to sit. Now everyone was watching us with understanding eyes. Except for Driana, she seemed to carry an unbelievable dose of heartbreak in her eyes before she hid it from the rest of the world. I found that the others were talking about what they should do with the comatose Zane while I was just sitting quietly, lost in my own thoughts.

Driana was just like me in a way. She was hiding what was hurting her from all of us, even though she knows that we would only want to help her. She's secretive on the outside and inside, but no one else seems to see it. Her secrets are well kept, and she only gives them out on her own terms, not anyone else's. I've watched her do both clumsy and stupid things, like falling down the stairs of my dorm or asking Atticus if he was dating anyone, and I've seen moments where she can literally glow. Her lips are always curled into a smile, but she's not always smiling for real. Her outward appearance is always happy and a bit shy, but inside I can see her being calculated and assertive. She had to have a strong backbone to just out and tell me her feelings in front of Zane, the ruthless crazed duelist who would more or less scoff at the very topic. And from what I've heard from her, she and Zane used to be friends, so she would certainly know this.

Driana gave my hand a small, shy, squeeze, soothing my aching head and making my various scratches numb over with her strange arctic presence.

She's just like me. I'm hiding what's plaguing me, I'm pretending that I'm fine even though I'm not, but I don't have the guts to just tell everyone about it. I mean, come on, who would believe that I'm hearing a voice of an evil person who claims to be me but insist that his name is Haou? Sure, strange things have happened to me in the past, but there's been nothing to this degree. I can't fight this problem. I don't have my friends behind me if they don't know about it. I'm alone in this fight...

And I think she's the same way. I smiled and looked up at the raven-haired beauty. Maybe we aren't so alone after all. Even if I can't return her feelings now, or maybe if I can, it's good to know that there's will always be someone that I can relate to here.

Alexis took my empty hand and tightened her grip when she heard about Zane's condition, turning my attention to her. A pleasant kindling ignited in my chest, replacing the soothing cold. She was so unlike me in every aspect other than dueling. She was smart, beautiful, aggressive, distant, warm, guarded, and patient. Her passion showed in dueling and her skills were impressive, she always gave it everything she had. Every card and combo in her hand was strategic and precise. Every move she makes is accompanied by natural grace. She cares deeply about those she loves.

Me, I'm none of those things. I care about people that are close to me, but love is a mystery. I've never known something like that. I'm clumsy and all of my moves are made on luck and faith. I'm not the brightest bulb of the bunch. I can't stay distant for very long and I'm not very good with hiding my emotions. Only recently have I started to be able to lie, but not to her. Nothing escapes those lovely hazel eyes.

But... don't they say that opposites attract?

I sighed and let the two extremes from the females each holding one of my hands consume me. Fiery passion and calming ice. Then what was I in this game? Fire and Ice can't coexist; one of them will eventually win in the end. But can that element mesh with me? What is it that I am?

* * *

**(Later at Base Driana POV)**

Standing in front of me was the solid wall of stone, separating me from the world that I lived in and the one I belonged in. My hands still tingled with the presence of Jaden, the presence of the one. Decisively, I opened the door. Artemis looked up immediately and smirked her smirk that Drake often called 'devilishly sexy'. I shivered. They all had seen me hurt him. They all thought that I had succeeded, but we were dead wrong. We had all failed, all of us failed him.

"Artemis," I started to say, but she interrupted me by dragging me off by the wrist to the recording room. Her eyes were alive with an emotion that still had been unnamed.

"Well done, my little protégé," Artemis complimented. It stabbed into my gut like steel. I was torn. This was what I wanted when I had come to this life. I had followed all of the rules, invented some along the way, found loopholes, seduced countless people, and I had been happy. I had wanted to do this from the very beginning, wanted to find him and force his out of hiding. I wanted this to happen! Why was I so torn over it than?! We can finally end everything; we have unstoppable power now if we can just draw out that darkness. When I leave him after I make him fall in love with me, his pain will leave the perfect opening for the power to overtake him, and we will seek him out, offer him a guiding hand.

Guiding hand my as—

"Well done Ms. Danchou."

Artemis closed the door and I was left alone with our leader, the one who had taken us all in and joined us together, united all of us under one common goal. To find and use him for victory. Maybe not use him, because he would want the same thing most likely and I know he won't let anyone walk over him. I curtsied formally, not knowing what to do in this man's presence when my twisted heart was filled with doubt. "Thank you, sir."

He smirked slightly and tremors ran down my spine. He definitely looked pleased with my efforts in his game, but there was something else in his eyes that contradicted that. Anxiety?

"Will you review the remainder of the duel with me?" he wondered, taking a seat and offering another to me. I nodded stiffly and sat down. I didn't want to watch this; I had already heard every harsh cry from Zane as 'Jaden' crushed him down. To be fair to Zane, he put up one hell of a fight, or rather he did everything he could, but he was only being played with. 'Jaden' could have ended it at any time he wanted. And it was lucky that Jaden was able to taint his power's decision so that Zane didn't end up dead. If anything I'm no murderer and I'm sure Jaden doesn't want to be either.

But then again, is it murder if there's no body?

I shook those frayed and fragmented thoughts out of my head and forced myself to analyze the duel and replace myself in the situation, willing the betraying and uprooting views to blow away in the wind. This life was all I had. This was all I knew. There was nothing for something like me out in this world. I belonged here... right?

**(Camera view of the duel)**

Jaden lifted his face and glared harshly at Zane. Zane gasped. The camera shifted to see Jaden's face, particularly his eyes. When the lens focused on the young prodigy's face, Driana flinched in her seat.

Gone were the caring warm chocolate eyes. In their place was an eerie and reflection-less gold, no feeling other than his amplified hatred in them. His usual bright and cheery smile was on a leave of absence and in replace was a cynical frown. Zane's surprise slid off his face rapidly and was replaced by a frown of his own. His eyes narrowed and being the assertive guy that Zane is, he naturally questioned, "What the hell are you?"

'Jaden' ignored him.

"I activate my facedown, Call of the Haunted. Rise, Elemental Hero Neos!" The alien monster burst back into life from the graveyard and Zane narrowed his eyes. Jaden didn't respond to the bait and simply drew his next card.

"I summon Neo Spacian Aqua Dolphin to the field!" Said dolphin-man seemed to turn back to Jaden as if worried. "And I activated Contact Fusion! Neos and Aqua Dolphin fuse to summon, Elemental Hero Aqua Neos in attack mode (Atk: 2500)!And I'll equip him with Instant Neospace so now he's stays on my field." The two aliens flew up into the air, forming a comet in the shadow of neospace, before returning back down to earth as one monster. "His special ability allows me to destroy two cards in your hand! Go!" The monster complied, shooting two lasers from his eyes and destroying Zane's one card. "Attack! Crush him until he feels the pain of my friends!"

Jaden's monster fired dark waves back at Zane's identical monster and Jaden's fist clenched with anticipation.

Driana shivered. He had wanted to hurt Zane, and badly. Where was the kind soul of Jaden Yuki?

"I activate Negate Attack!" Zane dramatically announced, waving his hand over his facedown to activate it. Jaden growled and his teeth grit together as his battle phase ended.

This violent nature, where had it come from? It had been instilled in his sweet, charming heart by her actions. Or had they always been there, just suppressed by the blinding light of Jaden's sunny personality?

"One facedown, end turn," he coldly admonished on the older duelist. Zane watched Jaden for a few unsettling minutes, taking in his reversal of attitude and the creepy golden eyes with mild interest. "What's wrong? Hurry up and draw!" Jaden shouted brutally at him and Zane only complied after watch him stew.

He drew his single card and stared at it intensely, as if he was trying to pick apart a strategy from it. His eyebrows narrowed as he activated it. "I place one card facedown and end," Zane said in a tone that suggested he hated the fact that he couldn't do anything with such a small hand. The card was obviously a trap since he hadn't switched the battle-mode of Cyber Dark Dragon, but Jaden was beyond caring by this point. His darker half had clouded his judgment, and he no longer cared about winning. All he wanted to do was cause Zane as much pain as possible.

"Draw!" Jaden growled, annoyed that Zane couldn't do anything better. He summoned Elemental Hero Blade Edge onto the field in attack mode. Zane opened his mouth to protest but Jaden cut him off. "Necroshade is in my graveyard, so I don't need any tributes to summon him." Zane's mouth closed. "Go Aqua Neos! Beat him to the ground!"

Jaden's lesser point monster leapt into the air and made to chop at Zane's Cyber End Dragon. "I activate my facedown!" Zane announced, still clinging onto the duel. "Rare Metalmorph!" Jaden didn't react to the sudden move, he just waited not so patiently for Zane to explain.

"I can select one monster on my field and increase its attack points by 500! (CDD: 2600)! Destroy his Hero!" The monster complied, shooting dark waves at Jaden's monster and destroying him. Jaden's face twisted into a sick smirk as if he had predicted this outcome. He didn't attack with Blade Edge, which surprised Zane.

"Now I can special summon Neos to the field in attack mode since Instant Neospace was destroyed." The young duelist held out his deck and Neos appeared again in a burst of red flames. Zane's eyes widened. He had just been defeated. "I'll end," Jaden said suddenly, the nasty frown reappearing on his face.

Driana barely stifled her second surprised gasp. She had heard all of this happen while she was 'unconscious' but it still hardly made any sense to her. The only thing she could think of was that Jaden wanted to hurt Zane worse, so he wanted more power on his field first.

Now she could she the way he held himself, the way his fists were clenched tightly, the cruel and mocking indifference on his face, and the overwhelming need to destroy Zane as badly as possible. The craving to mess with Zane until he also suffered with emotional damage. His lack of expression, the way his eyes never stopped being narrowed, his overall lack of reaction. The whole shell of the Great Duelist Jaden Yuki.

And she had caused it.

Zane smirked as he drew his card. "You lost your chance to win this duel and get your friends out alive Jaden. Is hurting me as badly as possible worth their sacrifice?" Jaden was unresponsive; his face completely cold and blank. Zane actually seemed curious about Jaden's current behavior, which was impressive, considering he was Zane. He smirked. "What's wrong, can't you talk anymore Jaden? Or are you too terrified of your defeat?!Well, we'll just wait a few turns and finish you off! I switch my Cyber Dark Dragon into defense mode and then I activate the magic card Creature Swap! Now we trade one monster one both sides of our fields."

"I give you Neos," Jaden replied without any hint of emotion as his trusted friend went over to the other side and Cyber Dark Dragon appeared on his side. Zane smirked and declared Neos' attack, destroying Cyber dark Dragon and leaving Jaden with only his Blade Edge of the field until the end of Jaden's turn. "That was a mistake Zane."

"Oh? Why?"

"My facedown."

Driana remembered being startled, she had quite forgotten about the facedown that Jaden had placed. He hadn't, and he had been waiting for the perfect chance to activate it. He wanted Zane to be the one that defeated himself. He wanted Zane to know that it was his own fault he lost.

"Now you're finally going to be destroyed and it was you who caused your unwinding! I activate my trap card Cross Heart which gives me control of the monster that just attacked me! So Neos, come back to demolish him!"

"What?! No!!" Zane burst, the impact of his own decision hitting him. Jaden had just been toying with his head, wanting to cause him pain in more than one way.

Only further proof other than the golden eyes that he was the one. Without control, this was one of his favorite games to play.

Jaden drew his card and declared the double attacks of Neos and Blade Edge. The two heroes leapt as one and came down on Zane at the same time, dark auras radiating from them thanks to Jaden's little power. At this moment, Jaden's eyes switched back to brown and the duelist started to collapse from the wear that his body had experienced in this duel and the exhaustion from his mind. The darkness around his monsters lessened, but still had enough hold to nail Zane and send him into a coma, screaming as the darkness penetrated his already injured heart.

Jaden fell to the forest floor soon afterwards, his eyes normal but unseeing before they closed and his form stilled. The chains that hooked Alexis, Syrus, and Driana to the trees were unlatched and the men in the trees checked over Jaden to see if he was in alright condition; if he was still stable enough that he wouldn't go lashing out at his friends and cause suspicion. Drake waved at the camera sarcastically and gave a thumbs up. The screen went blank.

**(End camera POV, start Driana POV)**

"He is definitely Haou."

I nodded stiffly, my eyes shifting over to the hospital where the others were still sleeping. I was supposed to be with them to be monitored for the last night, but they wouldn't miss me at three. Jaden shifted slightly in his dreams, probably struggling in his darkness of heart against Haou. Or maybe they were just talking and Haou was deceiving his other half like he had grown so fond of doing.

"Yeah..."

"Is there something you need to tell me Driana Danchou?" he asked, his deep charcoal eyes searching through me. I managed to keep his gaze and hold it.

"No, sir, I'm just curious about what will happen next."

"Ah, and you deserve to know. I'll always reward those who accomplish their tasks. Jesse Anderson is transferring to this school with some other duelists, so I'm having the other three forbidden children join the school as well. Artemis is planning on distracting Atticus Rhodes from trying to meddle in Jaden's... love life for lack of a better phrase. Drake may not be the brightest in our group, but he is very strong and can probably establish himself with the other threat that is coming with them, Professor Viper."

"Professor Viper?" I asked, feeling a bit lost. "Why is this man a threat?"

"He isn't a threat, but he is hosting someone who could destroy everything that our work has accomplished thus far. Of course, I'll have Fabian go as well, the last of you four. I want him to try and get to Anderson."

Ouch, that hurt. He always had an indirect way of slapping me in the face.

"You know Driana, this won't hurt him."

"Wha?" I breathed, caught off guard.

"It won't hurt Jaden. He would want to know, he'd want this. And of course, after everything is explained to him, I know he will accept your company again. You have nothing to fear. We are going to have to treat him with the upmost care because of the fear that clouds his control. After you're gone from his life, we won't be putting him down even more like we normally have to do. He'd be treated just like you were."

My eyes widened. He had known all along that I was worried about Jaden? And he will just out and tell me everything like that?

_Just like me..._

I smiled softly at the memory. This was the first place that I had ever felt like I was at home. I had been coaxed very gently into this little niche, and I never regretted joining it, even if I was starting to question why we had to do this.

"And... after we get Jaden back that will be the last time. It will finally all be over. We'll be in power again and there will be nothing in our way anymore. Rest at ease Driana, you are a very important part of this family, and I would hate to lose you again."

I couldn't help but feel soothed by his unusually kind words, normally he was an individual of little words and when he was talking they usually consisted of so many political games and paradoxes that my head would spin. He was a good twenty years older than all of us, and he was our official and unofficial leader at the same time. Of course, Artemis, Fabian, and Drake all knew who he really was because we had joined by choice, but none of the others did. That's what put him up so high really. Not his actual status, but his secrecy and his ingenious plotting. I'm glad he's on our side.

"I'm not going anywhere," I said slowly, but we both knew how little value words were worth here. He probably sensed that I still didn't want that to happen to Jaden again, but he didn't say anything else. I took this as my leave and walked back towards the hospital.

But, Jaden had only been that horrible and violent because of the way the Haou was released, he would be much better if those negative feelings hadn't had been amplified... right?

But his eyes... his face... his aura... they had all been completely changed and contorted with hatred and an ice to thick to be pierced and too cold to survive. That wasn't Jaden. What was really happening to Jaden every time Haou flared in his mind? Was he slowly losing his way, his path that he worked so hard to establish for himself? Or was he just going down the one that was meant for him all along?

My fingers laced themselves in my hair as I entered the school and walked past the abandoned hallways, stepping in the blind spots of cameras and stealthily entering the hospital room again. I pulled the blankets over my form and rolled over to watch Jaden sleep. He looked peaceful now, untroubled in his dreams, and I wondered if he was even talking to Haou anymore. What if Haou had taken over again and was just using his body as a puppet and carefully making sure Jaden's eyes stayed the same color? What if I was damaging not only Jaden's mind and heart by "putting him under my spell", but destroying his very soul?

I just didn't know which way to turn anymore. I wanted to trust the place that had saved me from a certain horrible fate, but I just couldn't seem to shake off these feelings that are telling me to stop.

My eyes narrowed dangerously and I turned away from the handsome face next to my bed, settling for the ceiling.

Damn Jesse Anderson for making this happen. If hadn't have resisted me so damn hard, I wouldn't have pushed too hard, I wouldn't have almost killed him. I wouldn't have found out what I could really do and was meant to do. I wouldn't have been questioning every little thing that I've done to get me to where I was today. I wouldn't be more aware of my actions. I wouldn't know these things that I just wanted to forget...

_... and now he was showing up again in that exchanged program to remind me all over again. Whoop-de-effing-do._

He would recognize me easily, and since I know that he and Jaden will undoubtedly meet up because of their similarities, Jesse may warn him when he sees Drake about our organization. Of course, he still doesn't know that I'm part of it, but that will make it harder for us to get closer to Jaden and try and "show" him who he really is. I doubt he'll take too kindly to any of our methods though.

I just don't want to see him like that again, as much as I hate myself for feeling that way, I can't avoid it. No, I don't want to see anyone hurt like Jesse...

I blocked it again with more strain than ever. I didn't want to see the damage that I had caused that day.

I didn't ever want to see that damage again.

This is the last time though, and Jaden does have to know. I just... I just wish there was another way to do this...

And I fell asleep staring at the bleary night sky, dreaming of nothing.

* * *

**"As soon go kindle fire with snow, as seek to quench the fire of love with words." William Shakespeare**

**HOLY CRAP THAT WAS A LONG CHAPTER! NOT MUCH TO SAY OTHER THAN I'M REALLY SAD THAT GX HAS ENDED...**

**WITHOUT A FREAKING AXJ KISSING SCENE!! (goes and cries in the corner)**

**OH WELL! I'LL BE AROUND TO MAKE IT HAPPEN IN MY STORIES AT LEAST!! AND SO ARE ALL OF YOU PEOPLE! **

**KEEP GX ALIVE! (yes I am on a sugar rush...)**

**R&R!**

**Bye!**


	8. Transfer Part 1

**Sorry for lack of updates, so I made this one long for you all! And it's only part 1!**

**Part 2 will come out before or after "Without You" is updated.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN GX.**

* * *

**PART ONE**

"Chancellor Sheppard?" Dr. Crowler said with some respect as he, Bonaparte, and Ms. Fontaine entered the large circular office. The bald man looked up at them, his eyes weary. "Sir?"

"I don't think Jaden is telling us everything," the older male said suddenly, startling them as the rising sun framed his form. The others fell silent, their eyes glancing at each other nervously.

"Sir, if I may ask, why would he hide anything?" Ms. Fontaine asked, her eyes darting towards where the hospital was located. "Jaden isn't someone who would put one of his old friends in a coma intentionally."

"Exactly."

"I'm not following," Crowler admitted.

"Just before Jaden said that he couldn't remember anything, you all saw the look in his eyes," Chancellor elaborated. "He was frightened, very frightened. How could he be afraid if he didn't know what happened, or at least what may have happened?"

The room fell silent again, more exchanges of glances ensued. "What should we do?" Bonaparte finally spoke up.

Sheppard's chin rested on his folded hands and his elbows on the desk. "I don't know. If we press Jaden, we may just scare him away. Whatever it is he knows, it's obvious that he doesn't want anyone else to find out. He'll have to approach us or his friends first, otherwise we'll never know."

* * *

**(Jaden POV)**

When I woke up, I found that the sunlight was streaming through the window. Why didn't Syrus wake me up? Was it a Saturday?

I sat up, wondering why the sunlight was reflecting off the walls and the sheets; didn't we have black-out blinds? I squinted wearily past my eyelashes and tried to figure out what was going on... Pfft, yeah right. My eyes landed on the people surrounding me in different white beds, and I just couldn't figure out why they were here for the life of me. Driana... Alexis... was that Zane?!

Just what is going on here?!

Frowning, I made to stand up, putting my hand on my bed. "Ouch!" I hissed when I applied pressure on my wrists. I stared down at the long ragged burns travelling up my arm in wonder. What the heck?

The door opened.

"Oh Jaden!" Ms. Fontaine gasped, startled. "You're up already?"

I nodded dumbly, staring at her like she was a ghost. "What're you doing in our dorm?"

"Your dorm?" she sounded worried, prompting me to look around again more carefully. Everything was so... white. White? Since when was our room white?

... Wait, where am I?

"Jaden..." Ms. Fontaine said worriedly, a strange expression gracing her face. "Can't you remember anything?"

"Remember what now?" I replied, feeling worried myself. I felt like something important had happened, something that could change everything. But what?

"Your duel with Zane last night. The kidnappings? Your head? Anything?"

I stared blankly at the sun glaring off the white walls. Kidnappings? Zane? That would explain why Zane was in the hospital bed... hospital?! We're in the infirmary?! Wait—Haou!! I let Haou out!! Oh damn it, damn it, damn it—

"Jaden?!" Ms. Fontaine shouted, but I barely heard her. I was lost, so lost in the darkness. I had let Haou out. Zane was in a coma because of me. He might never wake up. Oh my God, what if he never wakes up?! Would that make me a murderer?

I felt my chin jerk up so that Ms. Fontaine was looking into my deer-caught-in-the-headlight eyes.

What am I going to do?!

I can't tell anyone, I just can't!!

What if Zane—no, what if I hurt the others next?

I have to get out of here! I'm a danger to my friends!

"Jaden," she repeated more calmly this tone, her tone soothing.

What's wrong with me?

"Jaden," my blocked ears managed to discern, the voice that said it holding fear as well. I turned wildly in the direction of the new voice, seeing two sapphire eyes and two hazel eyes instead. Driana and Alexis. Driana and Alexis. Driana says she loves me but I love Alexis. I don't love Alexis. I love Driana. Love is pain. Love is a lie. What is love?

Amazingly, stupidly, I don't know anymore, something clicked and I turned towards Driana, feeling senseless babble rise from my mouth.

"That mark on your collarbone," I found myself saying in a strange voice. I sounded frightened, nervous, so unlike myself I wondered if I had lost my sanity. Get a grip, I told myself furiously, enough of myself still present to try and contain this fear. "What does it mean?"

Driana froze, looking at me in a whole new light. Alexis gently eased me back into the bed, although I had no idea when I had stood up. "Are you alright Jaden?" she whispered, sitting beside me as if I would blow at any moment. I managed to nod my head mechanically, and then I shook it like a wet dog trying to free itself of moisture.

Taking a deep breath, I summoned up whatever amounts of dormant courage I had left in my mind and called out to the darkness, searching for the villain in question.

Haou, if you're in there, you are going to talk to me. Now. I won't let you endanger my friends.

Silence. I cast out my senses even further, aware of the quietness in both the planes around me, and felt peace radiate through me. Haou wasn't there. Maybe it was like a one-time deal thing. He only can appear once, and he did, so is it over with now?

I opened my eyes and smiled reassuringly at the females in the room. Yes, it was over. Or at least, I'd make it be over. If Haou wasn't there, than I didn't have to worry about him, there was nothing I could do about it until he showed up again—if he showed up again. Then I can protect them from myself—then I can run.

But right now we are safe, and running would only hurt them... especially Driana if she really does love me. They smiled back; relieved that I was back down on earth and I attempted to speak again, hoping it was rational.

"Yeah," I managed, calming myself down the best I could. "I just remembered everything at once and it kinda overwhelmed me a bit I guess! Don't worry! I'm good now!" I smiled brightly, lying through my teeth, and they seemed to buy it, which completely caught me off-guard. If anything, shouldn't they be more alarmed that I'm acting all happy with Zane down?

Alexis smiled and put her arm on my shoulder briefly, locking our eyes together and nodding to me. "Thanks for saving me again."

I managed to give her an honest smile back, with a small nod of my own. "Its no problem Lex, I know you'd do the same for me, right?"

"Right hero-boy," she teased, taking her seat back on her bed. Driana was talking to the nurse a little while away, gesturing around with her arms while she talked. I felt the smile get a few teeth bigger as I watched her, surprised that I could still feel something like calm while I looked at her. Maybe I really did love her back...

I sighed. But I won't do anything about it if I can help it. Not with the risk that Haou could come back again.

Shivering slightly, I looked out the window into the new day, trying to hide my fear. Fear was something that was a bit new to me; it usually faded away quickly after I felt it. But this was a constant fear, like the paranoid feeling that some get, like someone is watching you. You can just feel their bloodthirsty eyes on the back of your head, staring, waiting for a chance when your guard is down, when you think you're safe, and then they strike, turning your world inside-out and leaving you in the ashes to either be reborn or to burn.

I had a feeling that I was going to burn instead of allow myself to rise from the ashes. If I rose again, then it would just defeat me again, leaving an even bigger wake of destruction in my path. I felt the eyes staring at me again, and turned sharply to the source, calmed when it was only Alexis' concerned hazel irises doing the staring.

I had people who would help me, and they were always watching too. Maybe I was being dumb, leaving them in the dark about this, but I just felt like something was blocking me from telling them. I searched myself briefly, trying to come up with the answer and I realized it was still the fear. If I knew that they knew I had told them, and then if Haou ever did reappear, he would know as well, and for punishing me about revealing him, he'd go after the person I told.

Another sigh exploded past my lips when my gaze landed on the still form of Zane. Was that why he was like this? I gave into Haou, and Zane had been there to witness it, so now Haou had made it so he couldn't talk about it, knowing already that I wouldn't risk my friends' safety by telling them myself?

"Yes!" Driana cheered, turning back to us, her hair flying in her face. Once again, I was struck with the image of icy blue streaks running through the jet-black locks before it vanished just as quickly as she sat down next to me and leaned up to get closer to both of us, her eyes shining. But now that I knew what to look for, I could see it in her gaze, the underlying pain. "We can leave!" she smiled happily, and then rounded on me, her face unnaturally close to mine. "So now you don't have to crash into me when you would've tried to escape again!"

I felt a blush at the closeness, accompanied by the longing, before she pulled away as well, waving at us to follow her. "Where did Sy go?" I asked after getting up. Ms. Fontaine looked a bit unsure if I should go out after freaking out like that, but she didn't stop us from leaving.

"I don't know, I just woke up when Ms. Fontaine shouted your name," the girl shrugged, pausing at the doors to wait for them to open and then walking out, expecting us to follow. We dutifully did, trailing behind the unusually pretty girl watching her sort-of-skipping-walk. I watched her feet with interest, trying to figure out how such a clumsy girl could move like that to get my mind off of Haou. Of course, being the natural genius I am, I only got a bit of a headache.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Alexis finally asked, looking irritated. It was then that I realized I had been completely ignoring her presence and staring at Driana, and I blushed, feeling badly for ignoring my friend. I hadn't spoken to her once since we left, and now I'm going and ignoring her after I almost told her I loved her. What was wrong with me?

"Oh, Ms. Fontaine said that there was going to be a party tonight to welcome in all of the transfer students!" she answered, swirling around on the balls of her feet to look at us in the eye, now walking backwards.

"Oh?" the blonde continued her voice a bit biting. Surprised, I ping-ponged between the two girls, seeing their reactions.

"Yeah," Dri answered without even noticing the tone in the blonde's voice. Or maybe she did, if I picked it up she must have, but she simply decided not to comment on it. "It'll be great. There's going to be karaoke and dancing and music and food and... well... everything I guess!"

"Oh no," Alexis muttered, stopping in her tracks at the word 'karaoke'. "Did my brother have anything to do with this?"

"Umm... I dunno, why?" she responded, bouncing a bit as she kept walking backwards. I kept a wary eye on her, all too aware of her tendency to fall while she was walking forward, so backwards would probably be... bad for her.

Alexis shook her head, putting a gloved hand to her forehead. "Its just that he gets these ridiculous ideas in his head sometimes and won't let them go, so I was worried that he was using this as some kind of a plan to get Chazz and I together or something. Besides, he'll corner me into singing with him somehow, I just know it. Maybe it'd be better if I just stayed in my dorm... I never really did like those kinds of things anyway."

"Come on Lex!" I said, glad for the chance to make it up to her by cheering her up. "You've gotta come to the party! It'll be great and we can meet the new students, maybe even duel them! Besides, I think Atticus has stopped trying to get Chazz and you... together?"

"I've noticed that too," the blonde admitted, looking at me strangely. "As a matter of fact Jaden, he told me that he was trying to get the two of us together, isn't that ridiculous?"

I noticed that Driana had become very quiet during out conversation, watching me almost anxiously for my answer. I put on my best amused face and laughed. "Yeah, he tried to get me to 'admit my feelings' too! I told him we were just friends, but he didn't seem to believe me!" I used air-quotes around admit my feelings for emphasis, chortling again, but I really couldn't understand her.

Was the idea of us together really ridiculous? Was there absolutely no way that it could work out? We were friends just fine, right? So why wouldn't we get along in the future?

I pushed back the stinging thoughts, wondering what it was that made me care so much that she thought it'd be silly for us to go out. I mean, I agreed, we were just friends and we were opposites, but was it really that repelling for her to not even consider anything like that?

"I think you guys would be cute actually," Driana said with a straight face. We both turned to her, surprised, and she dropped the face, cracking up. "You know, if you could get past Chazz, Jaden, without being mauled or if you could get past Blair, Alexis! That would definitely be interesting!"

We both laughed nervously at the thoughts of trying to penetrate the other's fan and shuddered slightly. But I couldn't help but think that I'd go to the ends of the earth for Alexis sometimes, which made me even more confused.

"I can imagine it now," Dri continued, on a roll. "Blair and Chazz would join forces to defeat the two of you and eventually the entire school would get involved, news cameras and everything, the whole show, while you dueled your way to freedom, only to be attacked by reinforcements that Chazz paid to keep you two away from each other and shower Alexis in gifts! Then Atticus would get involved and somehow the two of you would always end up in awkward—WAAGHH!"

She tripped over backwards and I reacted, expecting to have her fall, but I managed to grab her arm a bit too late. Her weight pulled me down in my lack of good footing and I felt Alexis grab me in an attempt to stop the tumble, but both of us weighed far too much together for her to carry.

All three of us ended up on the floor, pancaked on top of each other. Driana was under me, her lips right against my cheek and breathing hard into my skin, Alexis was right on top of me, her face on my other side and her arms awkwardly caught between the three of us.

"—positions," Driana finished with a fluttery breath. People had stopped to look at the scene when Driana had shouted, and now they were all laughing at the discomfort and redness on all three of our faces, clutching their sides. "Not to be rude or anything," she continued, sounding very small. "But you guys are crushing me."

Alexis lingered a few seconds after she said that as if frozen, staring into her flushed face, before laughing awkwardly and getting up, brushing herself off and offering a hand to me. I took it with a bit of hesitation, feeling warmth radiate from the slender object, before thanking her and doing the same for Driana. But when her hand touch mine, I felt something completely foreign to me—a jolt.

Like you would get from touching a glacier or something, and it raced right up my arm and seemed to trigger something again. I felt... a familiarity and a strong bond of trust, but also anger at... someone. But who?

I pulled her up automatically and she was watching me with something clear and hard in her normally innocent gaze. "Thank you," she said automatically, dusting off her skirt, but I found that something was continuing in my memories and it as her voice as well, "for saving me. But why did you help me? I'm nowhere near you're class."

The walls were suddenly turned into large dusty buildings, the smell of fresh bread in the air, and the streets were made of stone and dirt. She was standing before me, not meeting my gaze, but playing with the collar of her shirt instead, trying to hide a little mark on her collarbone...

It vanished just as quickly as it had come. I blinked heavily, blindly waving at the crowd and laughing awkwardly to hide my discomfort. What the heck had that been?

"Lucky bastard," someone muttered in the crowd and walked away. The rest of the students followed suit after that, giggling. Driana and Alexis both made a strange sound like laughter and we turned in opposite directions.

"I'm gonna go get ready for the party," Driana called feebly with an awkward wave, tripping a bit as she turned around.

"I've got to avoid my brother," Alexis announced twitchily, her face still lingering with redness. She held my gaze for a few seconds more as if she wanted to say something, but then walked away stiffly. "See you at the party Jaden."

I blinked again, my head weaving back and forth between the two directions they had taken, confused. Why had someone called me lucky and sworn at me in the same sentence? Why were they so jumpy? Sure, it was a weird position to be in, but it's not like it was intentional or anything. It was just an accident, so why were they so freaked out?

Miffed, I decided to visit the roof to try and work everything out. It was a pretty secluded spot, the perfect place to get away from the whole love and evil spirits thing without being too far away in case of trouble. I quickly got my bearings before climbing up a staircase to get to the next floor. Absently, I searched for the correct stairway while letting my thoughts drift again.

That jolt was something else. It was so strange, and why did I feel angry at someone? I mean, sure, I'm mad at Haou for attacking Zane, but I wasn't thinking about it at that moment. And what was that flashback scene all about? I've never been anywhere like that before, and I'm pretty sure that Driana wouldn't wear a dress like that outside in the dirt either.

Hmm... It kinda reminds me of those olden times dresses like in the Renasis... Renasistan... Renaissance! That's it!

I frowned, confused. So did we meet at some kind of a Renaissance festival? But I haven't ever been to one before, at least not that I remember. And I think I'd remember something like that.

By the aching of my legs I realized that I was on the top of the stairs now. I opened up the small door and then stepped out into the landing and climbed the final set of stairs up onto the smooth and isolated roof. I made my way over towards the edge and lied down a good few feet away from where it sloped down dangerously. Settling down, I waited for the warm wind to calm me down and the sound of students laughing in the courtyard to keep me just aware enough to be awake.

Even if Haou wasn't there, I didn't feel quite ready to jump into that void again.

Hmm... how many weird things have happened so far?

Of course, Sy and I being attack but only him being kidnapped...

Wait, I remembered being trained in self-defense, but I've never taken a class in my life. My parents are never home long enough to sign up for anything like that...

What is happening to me? Unless it's not me who remembers all of these things, but Haou...

No, because Haou doesn't know anything about Driana or visa-versa. That can't be it... But it would explain a lot of things that had happened...

If Haou was lying to me and he really is some kind of creepy stalker spirit, then wouldn't it make sense that I could get into his memories if he could get into mine? But then how would he read my emotions like he does? Wait—that's because I'm easier to read than a book. But not lately, I've been working on that...

But he'd have been around for forever if he was just a kid in the Renaissance age... right? So he's probably had so much experience with watching people that he could read any face, maybe even Zane.

Wait—wait. If that was true than Driana would have to be ancient too to be in Haou's memories, and she's my age. Arrgghh! I give up! This is just too much for one guy to take in!

I turned around dejectedly, scowling at the clouds. All of this thinking wasn't helping me get anything worked out at all! I took a deep breath and closed my eyes again, drumming my fingers on the roof tiles. Alright, I'm not getting anywhere on my own, so I either can ask someone else for help or just not think about it.

One thing about me, I didn't really like asking for help that much. I liked to try and figure out things on my own, I think it made them mean something more if I got it from my own beliefs. If another person gave me their opinion and I accepted it as true, than it would be like stealing their ideas. Like my knowledge wasn't my own. So if I go to anyone with my problems, then they could persuade me to make a decision that I may not like in the end, I think for once this actually has to be me figuring it out.

Not Atticus and his crazy schemes. Not Bastion and all of his knowledge. Not Alexis in all of her concern. Not Driana swayed by her love. Not Chazz and his affections for Alexis. Not Syrus and his protectiveness of me. Not Hassleberry and his straightforwardness. Not Blair and her affections for me.

It had to be me. No one else could possibly know what I was feeling, so they couldn't help me. And I wouldn't worry them by talking about it. Haou was gone, so there was nothing to talk about there. Alexis apparently didn't feel anything for me, so I shouldn't feel anything in return to make her feel guilty. Driana loves me, and I know I feel something for her too. But I just don't know enough about love to say anything back. I don't want to hurt her, I'd never hurt a friend like that.

The best thing I can do to protect her and my friends if Haou does come back is keep them in the dark and run when I first hear him. They'll be angry at me for leaving, but if they knew then they'd try to follow me, and Haou is stronger than I am. They'd get hurt and it'd be my fault for telling them.

What's that one saying... Ignorance is bliss?

Well, if I keep them ignorant (which I hope means clueless) then they'll be happy? I hope so...

And besides, he's gone as far as I can tell! Maybe he'll never come back again! I won't have to worry about him anymore; I'm just being silly to worry like this! It'll be fine! That way everything will work out perfectly in the end again, just like it always does! Good always beats evil, so I've got nothing to worry about!

I laughed suddenly. I was giving myself a pep talk! That's just weird! Well at least I wasn't talking out loud or anything! Then people would really think I was crazy!

I shook my head again, getting rid of my laughs, before my thoughts turned to the comatose Zane again. He was the only one who seemed to get really hurt by my silence, but even if I had said something he wouldn't have believed me. Besides, I didn't even know that could happen at the time either, so I couldn't have warned him. I'm sure he'll recover, he's a strong guy. Then maybe I can find some way of apologizing... but what if he remembers what happened after I gave into Haou? Then he'll tell everyone about what happened, and then they'd be in danger again!

Maybe it is best that he just stays asleep until this all washes over...

Wait, what am I saying?! Zane is still our friend no matter what he did to me or...

I felt the anger flare up again when I thought of my friends in the tree, chained, electrocuted, in so much pain...

My heart clenched painfully when I thought of Driana's confession, her own strong belief that I would be able to save them—that I was strong enough to win. Well, she was right in the end. I did everything I could to save them; I gave into a demon and sent Zane into a coma. Did that make me the hero or the villain?

I just didn't know anymore.

"Slifer Slacker!" Chazz called, and I jumped, not expecting anyone to be out on the roof, especially not Chazz. But sure enough, there he was in all of his dark glory, the Ojama brothers hovering around his head. I stood up, brushing the dirt off of my pants before turning to my rival curiously.

"What's up bro?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. He continued to stomp over to me and then abruptly pinned me to the column behind him by my black shirt. I stiffened, wondering what I had done now to offend him.

"Don't what's up bro 'The Chazz' Slacker!" he announced, staring me right in the eyes. I found myself slightly intimidated by his gaze and the rough handling, and it must have shown because Chazz smirked.

"What are you doing?!" I shouted, trying to wriggle out of my situation. His grip only tightened and he used his free hand to wave someone else over.

"Oi! Atticus, come on," the black-clad Slifer hollered. The elder Rhodes appeared from the staircase, popping up in an almost comical manner. I lost any fear that I had right then and there. Chazz may be a bit of a... spazz, but Atticus would keep him in check. At least I really hoped that he would.

"What's going on?" I asked helplessly.

"'The Chazz' has discovered something Slacker! Something that happened during you and Zane's duel!" I froze up, unable to help it, my eyes wide with fear and my hands trembling at my sides. Could he have found out about Haou? But how?! I didn't even know what happened!

Chazz 'hmphed' and then continued, "I thought as much. What do you know that you aren't telling us Slacker?!"

I shifted, not quite meeting his eyes or the elder Rhodes', who was now peering at the way Chazz had me pinned to the wall like some trapped animal. Then it clicked, I knew how to get out of this situation while still protecting my secret, and hopefully their lives as well. I just didn't want to take the risk that this psychopath living in my head would attack them if they knew. (Does that make me crazy too?)

I made a big show of giving a huge sigh and hung my head, trying to make my voice sound defeated. And because I was in a way, it wasn't hard to do. "How'd you guys find out? Did she remember?"

The two boys blinked. "She? Who's she?"

I looked up at them, looking muddled and confused to try and make my act more believable. This was going to be a tight squeeze to get out of this, and at the cost of giving away a secret of one of my friends. I resigned myself to make if up to her somehow, but first I had to tell them before feeling guilty.

"Yeah, Driana. What're you guys talking about?" I asked, and Chazz took a step away, dropping the collar of my shirt. I rubbed my neck absently, easing the burns that Chazz had touched with his fist. The master and protégé exchanged glances, obviously not expecting this piece of knowledge to gain from me.

"It might be Slacker," 'The Chazz' growled. "But we won't know until you spill it."

"It's really not my secret to tell," I told them, still backed up closely to the wall. Maybe I could even save her secret as well! I found my eyes weaving between them for a way out of this situation, but so did they. They closed ranks around, successfully cutting off any way for me to escape other than to randomly grow wings and fly out.

"You're not going anywhere until we get some answers Slacker," Chazz hissed, his eyes narrowed.

Yeah Boss! You tell him! Ojama Yellow encouraged, doing a little victory dance. I think that rather ruined the effect that Chazz had been giving me, and so did Chazz, because he automatically punched the spirit, making it vanish. He took my shirt collar again when I didn't respond, giving me a rough shake.

"Yowch! Chazz, be careful of the burns man!" I complained, wincing at the contact. He didn't remove his hand, just continued to glare at me.

"Tell us what you know, Jaden," Atticus whispered, strangely serious. "If you know anything about what happened to my baby sister and my best friend, you are going to tell us. And don't deny it; we all know you've been hiding something."

"Well yeah!" I announced loudly, startling them. "But I don't get why you think that it really has anything to do with Lex or Zane!"

"Just tell us already Slacker! We're more than willing to stay here all night long if we have to!"

I looked to the side, biting my lip with guilt. I really didn't want to be a snitch on Driana's secret, but technically she didn't even know that she had told me about it... Plus, how would they react? Atticus would go nuts and start to plot schemes to get me and her together... Chazz would probably be happy too, that now I would stay away from his 'Lexi-pie'.

But would that influence how I was going to figure out my feelings? What if I really liked Alexis like Atticus was saying and not Driana?

... It wouldn't matter because Alexis doesn't think of me in that way. I guess there is no harm in telling them, Driana will undoubtedly get closer to me because of Atticus, and I maybe I could figure everything out too...

But still, it wasn't fair to the girl that I was the one to spill her secret.

"Driana... she told me..." I started hesitantly, feeling like one of the lowest people on earth for betraying her like this. "She told me that she... loves me."

Silence.

"Oh," Chazz answered, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world right now. I couldn't agree more. Especially when Atticus came out of shock and started prancing around the roof, satisfied that I knew nothing about what had happened to Zane—and that I had a 'love life' now.

"Okay Chazzy! You go bye-bye now! I must scheme to get the two of them together!" he announced, pushing Chazz towards the stairs. The teen flailed a bit, but then smiled, the puppy-dog eyes appearing again.

"Yes! Now 'The Chazz' is open to target Lexi-pie again! YEEESSS!!" He ran off without any further prompting and I sent a silent apology to Alexis, then thought about it, and wished that she at least wouldn't kill Chazz.

"So lover boy!" Atticus announced, flopping down and dragging me with him.

"I'm not a lover boy," I sighed. I don't even know what that means.

"But you soon will be!" Atticus announced. "After we get some pressing issues out of the way!" I blankly stared at him, watching his hands make energetic movements through the air, effectively displacing any train of thought that I had. After a few moments of silence I snapped back to myself enough to understand what he had just said.

"Pressing issues?" I wondered.

He grinned at me in a rather cheesy fashion, flashing his white straight teeth. "Of course! You looked scared out of your mind when we questioned you about what happened in the duel last night, so I take it that the last thing you can remember is Driana confessing to you?"

Not exactly, but close enough to be the truth I guess. "Yeah..." I fidgeted with my hands absently, looking at my fingernails as if they were suddenly very interesting. This entire conversation seemed to just be awkward to me. Or course, Atticus didn't seem to care that he was butting right into my personal life, so I didn't voice anything, not wanting to hurt his feelings. Which was probably a mistake on my part, but I'm used to making mistakes now I guess.

"Well love is nothing to be afraid of my dear little target!"

"Target?" I asked in a monotone, glancing at him. "That sounds painful."

"Target, client, same diff!" Atticus laughed loudly, pulling his ukulele out of nowhere and starting to strum it absently, the beat slow and melodious as if he was trying to turn this entire scenario into a love song himself. I shrugged it off, used to it by now by the 'Pop-Star' teen.

"Atticus, I don't even know what love is," I tried in a feeble attempt to tell him to drop his crazy plans. The thing is, I didn't want his help figuring out the crush/whatever the heck it is that I feel for my two female friends. This was something that I think I was just supposed to figure out on my own, right? I'm strong enough to do that... right?

"That's what I'm here for!" the teen announced happily. "The Master of Love always helps those in matters of the heart!"

That's true; I knew I could rely on my friends to help me out. So maybe I'll just ask what love is and try to figure it out from there.

I sighed, turning to look out at the blue cloudless sky instead. Shifting my gaze to the ocean's blue tint, I saw the huge boat carrying the transfer student as a speck in the distance, wondering when they'd show up. Atticus turned his eyes on the ship too, and looked like he was forming another one of his famous plans. I hoped he wouldn't hijack the boat or anything.

"So what is love?" I asked, knowing he wouldn't say anything unless I asked directly. I played with my hands nervously; somehow feeling that is isn't a conversation on normally has with one of their friends. I though that this was supposed to something between father and son. "The Talk"™ or something? That's what they always say on TV shows... before I get bored and turn it off...

"I can't tell you," Atticus teased, and I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and groan, but then he continued, "because it is different for everyone that it strikes! Hence the target line! Get it? Get it?"

"I get it..." I sighed, none of this helping at all as the elder Rhodes giggled uncontrollably. I'm going to regret this later...

"Love makes you want to always be near the other person and it makes you want to impress them, and always be there for them," the teen continued, strumming faster to his words as if making a song.

"But I always want to be there for all of you, so is that love?" I asked, truly and honestly confused.

"Yes it is! But it is a different kind!"

"THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS?!" I shouted, falling backwards and groaning loudly, tugging at my hair helplessly. I am so doomed.

"Of course, there is a difference from loving someone and being in love with someone!" Atticus continued happily, tapping his right foot to the music. I groaned again, frustrated. No wonder I couldn't figure it out on my own, it was hopelessly confusing! "Being in love makes you want to give them kisses and makes you long for them! Loving someone makes you want to protect them and makes you comfortable around them!"

"Wait, back up, did you say longing?" I asked—eyes wide. Could I actually be in love? But what about what I feel for Alexis? I always want to make her laugh and hold her hand when I get near her! What does all of this mean?!

"Yup, longing is definitely a big part of love!" he chirped. "Longing to always be there for them, longing to impress them, longing to hold them in your arms, longing to be the only person they think about, longing for them to feel the same way, longing to shelter them, longing to keep them safe against the world, longing for them to never be hurt, and if you lost them, longing for them to come back."

"Longing..." I trailed off, muddled. "But... it hurts..."

Atticus strummed a few more chords and nodded, eyes distant. "Longing is a big sign of affections for someone else. But love? That will develop from that point, no longer simply longing for it to happen, but needing it to be true. The steps to love can hurt Jaden, but in the end it will all pay off if it's true."

I frowned slightly at the knowing tone in Atticus' voice, thinking that something seemed out of place there. He was talking about how longing could lead to love, but wasn't an absolute? Is that the pain he was talking about? Because my pain...

It's physical as much as emotional.

"Yeah, I take it by your face that you do feel something for our Obelisk friend!" Atticus sang abruptly and rather off-key. "So is that what's keeping you up at night them? Trying to figure out all of this?"

I responded without thinking it through, still caught up with the longing explanation. "Sometimes, it mostly these dreams—" I was back in myself again cutting myself off, horrified at myself for just saying that. Ra! Why was I so easily distracted all of the time?! The secret had become second-nature to hide, so why was I blurting it out just because I was distracted by the fact that I may be in love with a girl I just met a few days ago? Was that even really true love then? Or was that... umm... lust?

Isn't this what happened to Romeo and Juliet before they killed themselves or something? Wasn't this some big discussion in our English class, Lust vs. Love? Why didn't I pay attention in that class the one time I could actually use something from school in the real world?? Why oh why oh why??

My attention shifted back to Atticus, eyes wide, terrified of the rebuke that this slip of tongue would have. I could tell him that I had nightmares, that must was obvious now, but he would press me for details, and I have no idea at all what to say to him to keep him safe—to keep them all safe.

A curious look passed over the older Rhode's face and he asked me a totally random question. "Jaden, did you sleep through Sex Ed class?"

"We had a... what class?" I blinked, bemused. "What in the world is a Sex Ed class?"

He laughed, dropping the instrument and rolling around on the roof. Confused, I waited for the fit to subside, and when it did he wiped a tear from his eye and clutched his sides again. "T-That completely explains e-everything!" he chuckled again. "Those dreams are completely normal little man; all of us guys have them at one point or another! That what happens when we grow up! So which of our friends was in them?"

I stared at him blankly, confused and relieved at the same time.

"Come on Jay-man! You can tell me who it is!" he encouraged, his eyes searching for his missing ukulele. I managed to make my voice work after a few minutes of stunned silence.

"Err... one time it was both Alexis and Driana..." I admitted, completely shell-shocked. These were normal? What kind of a world did we live in? That was so weird, even for Duel Academy!!

Atticus' reaction wasn't what I expected either. I was expecting some kind of long-winded explanation about how I would have to choose which path to follow with them and what every little detail meant in context with love until my brain had melted from relief and over-load of information. But no, what I got was completely different.

His mouth hung open in a comical 'O' for a few seconds, and then he started laughing again, and this time it took him twice the amount of time to stop! What's so funny about this?!

"You dog you!" he laughed. "I didn't think you had it in you!" He collapsed in fits of laughter again, leaving me even more stumped.

He didn't think I had what in me?

I was just about to ask him when he popped up again and thumped me on the back. "Don't worry about it Jay! I'll tell everyone what's going on with you if you're uncomfortable with saying it! I know most of us are! Ra!" he chuckled. "Both of them!"

"You'd really tell them for me?" I asked just to make sure. He nodded.

"And don't worry! Just leave all of your love problems up to me! They'll be solved by the end of tonight! I guarantee it!" he shouted as he stood, still laughing, and walked away. I stared at his back until he disappeared, then turned to Winged Kuriboh, who looked just as confused as I did.

Kuri, kuri.

"Yeah, I guess humans are weird," I replied honestly, shrugging and making myself comfortable. If those dreams were normal, then I guess I had nothing to worry about, so sleeping couldn't hurt now, could it? I smiled, considerably relieved and weirded out at the same time, just able to catch Atticus mutter something that sounded like:

"Gotta love puberty."

* * *

**(With Syrus and Hassleberry)**

"Hey! Hassleberry!" Syrus shouted, running toward the Slifer Red dorms in his brand new blue uniform. Hassleberry looked up while he was coming down the steps, surprised to see his rival dressed in blue and running at him so quickly. "Do you know where Jay is? I've been looking for him all day and I can't find him!"

The addressed duelist put his hand to his chin in thought and answered, "I haven't seen the Serge in a while either, huh, wonder where he is Private."

Syrus sighed in exasperation, "Jaden... I told him that there was the opening ceremony for new students today but does he listen?"

"Hey! Serge just probably forgot!" Hassleberry said defensively, crossing his arms and muttering so the bluenette couldn't hear him, "His real best friend would cut him some slack."

If Sy noticed the dino-lover's lips moving, he didn't comment on it. Instead he said, "Are you still going to wear that same old uniform to the assembly?"

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Hassleberry frowned, looking down at the clean uniform. "Did I spill something on it?"

"No, its fine, I just was wondering if you were going to wear something new to start off the new year with new students!" Syrus cheered excitedly, the prospect of starting out in his brother's level dorm making him temporarily forget that his brother, in fact, was in a coma.

"Like you in blue? Congrats by the way for moving up the ranks Private!" the younger teen responded with his eyebrows raised. Syrus shook his head and held out his glasses triumphantly to the stumped Ra student.

"Thanks, but I was talking about the lenses on my glasses, I figured I'd change things up with the new students!"

Hassleberry stared at them blankly, not understanding.

They look exactly the same to me, he thought.

"Anyway, back to the point right? We've got to find Jay before we're late for the ceremony!" Syrus finished, saving his rival from having to respond and dashing off. "First one there's his best friend!"

"Wait!! That's not fair! You're the one leading the way!" Hassleberry shouted, picking up the pace to catch up to the shorter rival.

* * *

**I'm just splitting this chapter in two so that it's easier for you guys to read. Thanks for reading!**

**AxJfan**


	9. Transfer Part 2

**(Jaden POV)**

I scrunched up my nose, smelling dust, as I woke up, feeling uncomfortably hot. I yawned, sitting up and wondering how long I was lying out in the sun, and then felt the ground shift below me like tiny specks of sand. My eyes flew open and I stared at the sand under me, unable to comprehend what was going on.

Was this another weird part of—what did Atticus call it—puberty?

I stood up, trying to get a good look around, and saw in the distance the towering figure of what appeared to be a large dark door. I stared at it in the dark sky, confused, before casting my gaze elsewhere.

"Where am I Kuriboh, do you know?" I asked the air, waiting for my little furry friend to appear. After waiting for a few minutes with no response I grew nervous. Kuriboh never ignored me; he was always right by my side whenever I needed him. Where was he?

"Kuriboh?" I called out into the desert, squinting when I thought I saw some buildings in the distance. Deciding that going there was better than standing here; I pulled my jacket off and tied it around my waist, heading out towards it. After what felt like hours of walking, I stopped to catch my breath. The buildings weren't getting any closer. Maybe I was just hallucinating?

I looked up again and jumped back, seeing the figures of some people standing a while in front of me. Unfortunately the wind had picked up and was whipping sand around, so I couldn't see who they were.

"Hello?!" I shouted out, cupping my hands around my mouth. When they didn't hear me, I decided to head over to the silent figures. "Hey, can you guys help me? I'm a bit lost—" I stopped abruptly, staring at the figures in front of me carved in the sand and staring blankly at me like statues.

Chazz.

Hassleberry.

Syrus.

Alexis.

Crowler.

My hand moved out, reaching to touch the closest to me, Chazz, hoping that the image wasn't real. They couldn't be...

Just as my hand was about to touch his cheek, they all dissolved into dust and scattered away in the wind, their screams echoing around me. I clasped my hands over my ears in the noise, screaming out into the silent world. No! Stop it!

"Why won't you play with me my precious child? I already played with your friends..."

I gasped, shooting straight up and panting heavily. Just a dream. Just a dream.

Kuri? Winged Kuriboh asked, appearing next to me in concern. I shook myself off and smiled at him.

"Just a really strange dream buddy, I'm fine," I assured him, and I was. The details were starting to fade already, even though it all had just felt so vivid. But that voice just before I woke up, it sounded so familiar...

Kuriboh turned to the side suddenly, staring at something. "Hmm? Something wrong buddy?" I asked him, just as a little purple cat-like creature came into view. I blinked in surprise, staring at the thing, before I heard another voice with a slightly southern accent come into my hearing range.

"Ruby!" he called. I looked up as the little duel spirit scampered away, crawling up the boy's body until it rested firmly on his shoulders. He smiled, closing his emerald eyes, "So this is where you ran off to, huh gal?" He turned, noticing me sitting there, and approached me with a friendly smile. I stood up to greet him.

"So is her name really Ruby?" I asked, gesturing towards the little spirit on his shoulders. The mysterious boy laughed kindly, rubbing his teal spiky hair with his free hand.

"Nah, it's just her nickname. Her full name's Ruby Carbuncle after the legendary animal. Is that Winged Kuriboh your spirit?" he asked curiously, smiling kindly at the winged fuzz ball.

"Yeah," I nodded. "You can see him?"

"Yup, and that must mean you're the infamous Jaden Yuki, right?" he asked with another small smile. I smiled back, feeling utterly relaxed for the first time in too long, wondering why this boy had this kind of effect on me. "I've been able to see duel spirits since I was little, how about you?"

I thought about it, hitting a blank spot in my memory bank. Most would find that unusual, but I had one horrible memory, so I didn't worry about it very much. "I guess since I was born!" I grinned, holding out a hand to shake with him. "So are you new this year? I'm pretty sure I haven't seen you around before."

"Yeah," the guy agreed, holding out his hand too.

"Then let me be the first to welcome you to Duel Academy!" I announced, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. As soon as our skin touched, to felt something like an electric current run up my arm and I found I didn't want to let go. I felt suddenly like I had known him all of my life, and we were simply catching up with each other after a few days apart or something. "Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" I had to ask, although I didn't even feel the need to voice it. I knew it was absolute, I did know this boy from somewhere.

"It sure feels like it, doesn't it?" he responded, not breaking our handshake either. We just stared at each other for a while, trying to place the other's eyes in our memories, searching for something that could explain the connection that had already blossomed between us. I felt... something, but it was like it was behind a wall, and I just couldn't quite reach it. I decided it didn't matter how I knew him, just as long as I did know him now, which made me feel a bit weird.

Sure, I made friends easily, but nothing like this had ever happened before. At least not that I know of... maybe when I crashed into Driana, I felt something as well, or that could have just been adrenaline from my chase...

The thoughts faded away and we nodded at each other as if accepting our bond and solidifying it before something random happened. Winged Kuriboh had been close to Ruby, and the two had been greeting each other, but suddenly my little friend swatted the Carbuncle on the head with his wing! Soon the two were fighting playfully on the ground as the two of us watched, surprised, our hands still intertwined.

"Jay!"

I turned to the side, breaking the contact with the boy reluctantly to meet the voice. I was half expecting it to be Atticus pulling a very confused Driana in toe, but it was my two best friends instead—well, maybe my best, but not my closest anymore, I thought, glancing at the familiar boy again.

"What's up guys?" I called out. They ran up to the lip of the stairs, panting. I noticed Syrus was dressed in an Obelisk Blazer before remembering that he had been promoted when we started school this year, but he had been waiting for the ceremony to show it off I guess.

Wait! The ceremony, that's not today, is it?

"Come on Serge, we're going to be late!" Hassleberry called, gesturing at me to get my feet moving. "The ceremony's almost starting!"

"That's today?" I repeated out loud. I cast an apologetic glance at the boy and waved good-bye. "Coming guys! I'll see you around, okay?"

He nodded and smiled as I dashed away, his little duel-spirit climbing up onto his shoulders again. As we ran down the steps, Syrus managed to ask between wheezes and gasps, "Who was that Jay?"

It was then that I realized that I didn't know his name. "New student!" I answered easily just as we managed to get into the assembly room and slide into our seats. Chancellor Sheppard smiled at us as we came in—just barely on time—and then started the ceremony by calling Blair Flannigan from the side to recite our school motto.

I kind of tuned her out, my thoughts turning back to the boy, now that I was outside of his presence; I was confused by my thoughts. I had just met him and I already considered him to be closer to me than my best friends? I didn't even know his name!

I came back down to earth again when Blair finished her speech and a bit of scattered applause rose from the audience. As she walked away, she turned back and met my eye, shooting me a wink. I reeled back, surprised and caught off-guard once again. Sure, I had known that Blair had a crush on me—even I could see that much—but I didn't think she'd be that bold about it! Then I felt a heated glance directed at me and saw that Alexis was giving me a glare out of the corner of my eyes. Hassleberry laughed and said, "I feel sorry for you now!"

But I just nodded, looking for the other female face in the crowd to see her reaction.

She was nowhere to be found. I frowned, searching around for Atticus discretely, hoping that he wasn't going to do anything.

"This year, we wish for Duel Academy to improve, so we invited some new students. There are many other branches of Duel Academy around the world, so we decided to invite the best student from each academy to come here," Chancellor Sheppard announced to his prized students.

"Does that mean the champion of each one?" Hassleberry asked me rather loudly. He half-stood up in his seat, trying to get a good look at the crowd.

"Wow! A lot of new people are coming here!" I said to myself, surprised. Sure, Syrus had told me that we'd be getting new students, but I didn't know there would be more than one or two! And they were from other Duel Academies, so maybe they had weird things happen to them to! We could all swap catastrophe stories over a campfire or something.

A man I didn't recognize stared us all in the eye in response, and I noticed that his gaze lingered slightly on me before passing on. Shrugging it off as a curious probe about Blair's little show; I put it in the back of my mind and decided to listen to our teacher.

"From the Western Duel Academy Campus, we have Axel Brodie." A hardened African-American teen stepped up, unsmiling. He folded his arms behind his back like a soldier and stared us all down. "From South Duel Academy we have Jim Cook."

"Yay!" the tall teen called, raising his crocodile strapped to his back and stepping forward smiling. I was about to look away when I noticed that the croc moved! I'm pretty sure everyone else saw it too, because whispers engulfed the room.

Crowler made frantic quiet motion with Bonaparte in the corner, but everyone ignored them as usual.

"From East Duel Academy we have Adrian Gecko."

The third teen stepped up, his red hair spiked directly up as if he had been struck by lightning. He gave us all an acknowledging smile, his glasses shining slightly. I heard Syrus whisper to Alexis form the Obelisk row that:

"Humph, my new glasses could do that too, show off." I watched as he proceeded to try to pull it off, and only succeeded in dropping them off his nose and onto the floor. Blushing, he put them back on and folded his arms over his chest, avoiding Lexi's amused eyes.

"And from Northern Duel Academy, we have Jesse Anderson."

We all watched the door; waiting to see the next transfer student, but a girl came out instead, dressed in a completely black uniform. She waved at the people staring at her—although I couldn't fathom why Chazz was drooling—and walked, her hips swaying, over to the Chancellor. She said a few words to him and he responded, earning a shrug from the tall-green haired person. She turned, her black skirt fanning out and showing a bit of what I think was underwear, but it was hard to tell, it was really stringy and lacy.

Chazz started panting along with most males in the academy. The girl grabbed the microphone with her gloved hand and waved to the crowd. "Hey, I'm not Jesse Anderson, name's Artemis Ryoku. I just came out here to tell our Chancellor that there's no one back in that little room by the name of Jesse Anderson."

Grumbles came from the students who still had their wits about them, mainly the girls I noticed in confusion. The girl shrugged again, flicking her hair back over her shoulder in a fluid motion and then swaying over to her place next to the transfer students. Jim Cook smiled at her politely and whispered something into her ear discretely, causing her to smirk and respond back. He looked surprised and rubbed the back of his neck, pointedly looking in the opposite direction. Axel just eyed the girl warily, and Adrian didn't even glance in her direction.

"What's going on?" Crowler asked his little counterpart guy, the little guy who kept trying to tear down the Slifer Dorm last year... umm... Bonaparte or something like that. Is that French?

"No one's coming," he responded, looking affronted that the girl would just flounce up unannounced and tell them all that Jesse Anderson had flaked off. I suppressed a grin with difficultly, and then just let it out, remembering Atticus' words. Apparently this was normal, so I could let myself relax, right? That would explain Atticus/Nightshroud and Zane/Hell Zane, and it seems that I already went through my little Haou phase, so I guess I'm good now.

Feeling completely and utterly relieved, I even let my mind relax around my thoughts about Dri and Lex... and now Blair apparently.

" Jesse? Jesse Anderson? The same Jesse that uses the Crystal Beasts Deck?" Chazz suddenly piped up, his ebony eyes narrowing slightly. At least I think they did, it's kinda hard to tell when his eyes are always like that.

"Crystal Beasts?" I asked curiously. Even the name sounded cool. Maybe a good duel could help me figure out my problems.

"What do you know soldier?" Hassleberry asked oddly as the Chancellor and his assistants exchanged uneasy glances and low conversations about what to do.

"A while ago the Princeton Group tried to take the Crystal Beast cards from Industrial Illusions using their cash." He turned his head in the other direction as if gazing deeply into the past. I had a feeling he just did it for effect; he'd probably be a good actor or something. He was really dramatic sometimes.

"You're still into that soldier?"

"It was a long time ago!!" Chazz shouted, practically foaming at the mouth, his palms biting into the desk in front of him. Then he took a calming breath and resumed his cool indifference act. "According to Industrial Illusions, once upon a time the ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar, collected seven powerful gems from across the world to prove Rome was powerful. But during the trip a storm hit the ship and the gems went into the ocean. Discovering this, President Pegasus used the seven components of the gems to make seven cards."

"Those were the Crystal Beasts?" the dino lover asked. I listened closely to the story, somehow feeling as if this was incredibly important. I couldn't figure out why though.

"Pegasus didn't sell the cards. Instead, he gave them to a boy who became champion at a tournament." The comment was a bit snobbish, like the Princeton thought it was a waste to get rid of such valuable cards like that.

"So it's that Jesse guy who has those awesome cards?" I asked. Then my words caught up with me and I realized that he would be the perfect opponent to go up against to clear my head! "Wow! I hope I can duel him soon!"

"But he's not here Serge," Hassleberry pointed out to me blankly. I pouted slightly, disappointed. Well I could always challenge Alexis again so we could finish our duel or Chazz, cuz I know he'll give it his all...

Just as Chancellor Sheppard was about to continue on with the list, the main doors opened. We all turned and stared up at the late student, and I saw that it was the boy I had met on the roof. He was panting heavily, his shoulders heaving and everything. But when he looked up he was all smiles. "Oh man I'm so late! I've got no sense of direction!"

Everyone continued to stare at the late student, like it was our custom at Duel Academy to do (I would know.) He started down the stairs and I was overcome with that weird trusting bond feeling again, but just like before, I just shoved down the confused thoughts. "Huh? Yo! New guy!"

He stopped in front of my row, ignoring all of the stares easily, and asked, "Is this the opening ceremony?"

"Yeah. Oh! By the way, did you happen to see a guy named Jesse?" I asked him eagerly, my excitement returning, bubbling hope into my eyes. I felt the stares of the class on me and the easy way I reacted with this kid, but I didn't care.

"Huh? Jesse?" he said, looking surprised, then sheepish.

"Uh, Jaden, he's..." Chancellor Sheppard started slowly.

"That 'Jesse' guy... that's me. Sorry, I didn't mean to hide it from you! It's just that you thought I was a freshman, so..." he laughed, one hand tangling itself in his teal hair sheepishly. I just smiled kindly, feeling as if I had already known that somehow.

"Really?" was all I said. He blinked and then smiled, heading for the stage. He yanked himself up easily, waving at the students. He walked about, greeting the others. He looked around at them and his expression froze when he saw Artemis. He didn't look like Chazz had when he saw the girl, he looked completely stunned, then his eyes narrowed slightly and he looked away, nodding at the others.

Absently, I wondered if he recognized the girl like I did, but pushed it away, feeling silly. Of course he didn't, I was just being paranoid.

If the teachers noticed, they didn't say anything. As a matter of fact they just seemed relieved that the teen had showed up. "Now then, let me properly introduce him. The representative of Duel Academy's North Campus: Jesse Anderson."

"Yes, now onto our other transfer students," Chancellor Sheppard continued. "Next we have Fabian Akogi, also from Domino High School."

"Actually," the muscular teen said as he walked out of the small room and onto the stage, projecting his voice with no difficultly, "all of us are from Domino. It's not just Artemis and I. And for the record, I liked to be called Ian. Just because my parents are Shakespeare fanatics doesn't mean I am."

Once again, I was hit with that familiarity, and I just didn't get why. The way he said it seemed to remind me of something, but with all I know about Shakespeare (which is pretty much nothing unless he is a duelist) I could just be picking up on the so-called "sarcasm" that Chazz uses.

But my gut told me that this wasn't the end of it, and I had a funny feeling that whoever was left to be introduced would make me feel this way too. So, when the muscular guy in the black hoodie took his stance and the next student, Drake Kyouko, sauntered into the room I wasn't as surprised when I dimly recognized him as well.

"And I have one more person to introduce to you all. Hailing from the West Campus, he's here to provide a special course this year: Professor Viper."

The unmentioned intense-looking man walked slowly up to our school head and nodded, taking the stage efficiently. I looked him up and down curiously and noticed that Artemis, Ian, and Drake had all glared at the man as he walked past. They seemed to feel my stare because their gazes shifted to me. I flicked my gaze to the professor and back, asking them the question. Artemis winked in response and held up a finger to her lips. A few males around me went a bit crazy, thinking that the sign had been sent to them. I didn't get why they'd be drooling though.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Usually you would hear an endless stream of speeches and greeting here. But you all don't need that this year. Instead of dull talk, let's have some real combat. That is my policy," Professor Viper said in one powerful, toneless statement.

"Hmm? I guess this guy's pretty straight-forward then," I commented off-handedly to anyone who was listening.

"And through that policy, let us, without delay, begin our exhibition match!" he announced suddenly, radiating authority. Confused murmurs rang throughout the crowd and the teachers.

"Exhibition match?" I heard the French (I hoped) guy ask.

"I didn't hear anything about that," Crowler said back, affronted.

Viper continued on with a small glance back at the teachers. "The participants will be ones that I have selected. Jesse Anderson! And then, his opponent..."

"Naturally," Chazz smirked, standing up as if accepting a prize.

"Jaden Yuki!"

Sweet I can duel him right now! And I didn't even have to do anything! Amazing! Maybe things are finally turning in my favor! "Alright! The new term's just starting and I get to duel a guy who uses legendary cards?! Sweet!"

Chazz was recovering from a face-vault rather gracelessly. "Why didn't he pick 'The Chazz'?"

**_Now, now boss, calm down!_** Ojama Yellow cooed as he appeared.

"I'M THE GENEX CHAMPION!!" Chazz hollered loudly at the stage. Hassleberry and I stood up, trying to restrain the rich teen.

"Calm down Chazz!" we said.

I just barely heard Jesse exclaim to himself, "Wow! He has some strange friends too!"

After just barely managing to push Chazz back down into his seat, I joined Jesse on the stage. He was waiting with a smile, but I noticed that he never put his back to the transfers from Domino High. Weird, I'd have to ask him about that later.

"Both of you, place your right hands in front of you," Professor Viper demanded, startling me into obeying. He snapped a faceless and handless watch onto our wrists and we watched as they tightened to fit us.

"What is this thing?" I asked, resisting the urge to poke it.

"Just consider it a present from me," Viper answered shortly. "Now! The duel will start in an hour!"

He has a weird sense of giving gifts. How the heck are we supposed to tell time if the watch doesn't have any numbers on it?

* * *

**(With Driana)**

I moved the last of the crates over the entrance to our hideout inside the animal study place, dusting my hands in a job well done. A few grunts collapsed part of the wall over it and killed the electricity in this part, dissuading any visitors from coming in, like Viper. I still didn't understand why he was the liability when it was Jesse who knew about us—well at least Artemis and Drake anyway. Sure, we didn't want the guy stumbling onto us hiding in here, but he was obviously up to no good either.

I had spotted him coming on the cameras after staring at Jesse Anderson for any signs of what I had done to him, to see if he would freak out if he saw me. But of course he didn't know it was my fault, so I was just being a little bit of a coward. But it was justified; I didn't even know who I was anymore with all of the parts I had played over the years.

Focus.

"Alright boys," I commanded lightly, "back into the smelly secret passage."

They grumbled a bit at being bossed around by someone half their age but didn't dare to disobey me, squeezing their gorilla arms into the small little trap door below us. I followed them quietly, shutting the door firmly above me and waving my hand around a bit to try and clear the smell. That floor's design had just been a bunch of tiles anyway, and no one would notice this against them, it blended in with perfection.

I sent the two away after they started complaining and sat alone in the tunnel, listening hard for the footsteps of Professor Viper. Sure enough, I heard the first door open up and his heavy boots stomp across the floor, but farther away. I frowned, etching wrinkles into my forehead. He wasn't going to check if anyone was here?

Another door farther away opened up and then what sounded like an elevator. Then I didn't hear anything at all. Confused, I trudged back into our wing and snuck into the camera room, taking the seat next to our unofficial leader cautiously. He glanced at me for a brief second and then pointed to the camera that was trained on the wild parts of the research facility. We watched, camera to camera, as Viper made his trek without running into any issues at all, which is a miracle in itself. There were more than enough wild animals in there to hunt him down and tear him apart, which is why we didn't bother to hide in there.

I noticed the suitcase then, and I knew something just wasn't right about this. He couldn't be just taking a stroll, but what could he possibly have in that suitcase that he would go through all of these lengths to hide.

"Sir?" I asked, my hand twitching on the desktop. He nodded.

"Go, trace him. You need to know why he is a threat, and why it is more important than ever to get him on our side. Go, Driana."

I bowed slightly, still not knowing what else to do, and dashed down the hall and into the other trapdoor, through the smelly tunnel, down the hallway. I forsook the elevator and simply jumped the distance, landing like a cat to reduce any injury. I dusted myself off again, proud that I was still in good condition even though I had been hanging around here for so long. If this guy held the answers to why I had to get to Jaden, I was going to get them.

If they were good enough, well... they'd have to be pretty dire for me to actually want to hurt him like that again and see if Haou comes out to kill us all in his anger.

I slowed down in the forest, feeling the pulse of the animals. They stayed away from me just as they did Viper and I wondered if they had grown afraid of the human presence. I shrugged it off and searched for the wayward Professor, sprinting surely through the area without so much as a sound. I stopped at the fringes of the forest and watched as he walked over a small bridge and into the next room. He examined the wall briefly as if seeing if he could set traps for it and walked in. I followed him at a distance, waiting until his heavy footfalls were farther away to start up the chase.

I stayed at least fifty feet away from him at all times, waiting until he turned corners to continue. When he finally did stop, I heard another door closing, so I knew it'd be safe to get closer and eavesdrop. I hovered right outside the door, hiding on the side that would hit me if it were whipped open. He didn't say anything, just chuckled to himself as he opened up the briefcase with a snap. I felt something strange fill the air as he busied himself, then I almost jumped out of my skin when the presence multiplied and exploded into existence as if reviving from the ashes of death. My hand found my mouth and I fell onto my butt in sheer surprise.

No way, he couldn't be here. It just couldn't be!

I shook my head fiercely, reprimanding myself. No, of course he would be here too. With all of us gathered in the same place of course he'd be able to find us, but why does he feel so...

My eyes widened, and I understood completely why I needed to take Jaden's heart and rip it out. I knew why we couldn't try and gradually pull him towards us; we had competition, we didn't have time. I just knew.

And I ran out of that hell-hole as fast as I could, still not daring to make a sound less he hear me. What had he done to Viper to convince him to do such a thing? What level of desperation would the man have to be at to listen...?

That's it. I have a job to do, and I'm going to do. He can take all that I push on him without breaking, so I'll give it my all. He can't be taken by him, he belongs to us.

And I'll make sure that we get him before the game even starts. Jaden Yuki, you are mine, even if you will hate me for it, even if it just nearly kills you. You have to give us the power, and we'll give you treasures beyond your wildness imaginations...

I smirked, allowing myself to go into full-on seduction mode, planning out my every step. Artemis will already be messing with Atticus by now, which means that I can pretend that it was her idea, not mine.

Tonight at the party, Jaden will be mine. That's it, point-blank.

I will not let Yubel have him.

* * *

**IMPORTANT!!**

**I HAVE SET UP A POLL.**

**WHY?**

**BECAUSE I DECIDED THAT IT WAS REALLY HARD TO UPDATE A BUNCH OF TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORIES IN A ROW!**

**I'M LETTING YOU GUYS DECIDE WHICH STORY I WILL UPDATE ALONG WITH THE DESCENT. **

**THE CHOSEN STORY WILL BE UPDATED UNTIL IT IS DONE, AND THEN A NEW POLL WILL BE HELD AND SO ON.**

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**FOR READERS WITHOUT ACCOUNTS:**

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**THANK YOU FOR READING!**

AxJfan


	10. Transfer Part 3

**(Atticus and Bastion)**

Atticus Rhodes energetically ran around the gymnasium, barking giddy orders at his constant stream of assistants. He settled down on a stage that a few students had pulled out earlier in the morning, (meaning that they would get a date with the pop-star dreamer, the lucky fan-girls) tapping on the lights and screen behind him. Bastion's head popped up behind a machine, slightly smeared with oil, and he sighed at the hyperactive guy. "Atticus, I told you, I'll have this done by the end of the duel and my progress will be much quicker without these interruptions. Besides, this is a ridiculous idea. No one knows if Jaden can sing in the first place."

"Of course he can sing!" the older teen hollered energetically.

"Oh? And how do you know that?" the brainy teen wondered, tweaking something in the giant karaoke machine.

"Simple! He doesn't sing in front of people all the time!"

Bastion gave him a weird look. "And what does that have to do with anything? Doesn't it make logical sense that if one couldn't sing they wouldn't do it in front of people?"

"Not at all!" Atticus chirped loudly, drawing the attention of Chazz, who was working (well let's face it, ordering around people to work in his place) with a bunch of students around the entrance, designing a 'haunted walkway'. He stood up from his lounging chair and added his own little information into the mix.

"Slacker can't sing. He was singing some stupid theme song to some dumb anime or something when we were heading out to that abandoned well back in first year," Chazz yawned, sitting next to the Master of Love.

Bastion looked smug before he disappeared back into the mechanics of the high-tech totally-unavailable-anywhere-else uber-party machine. Atticus didn't seem concerned, because he responded, "Things are different when you put someone on a stage with a spotlight. He'll be great! The Master of Love knows all!"

"Pfft," Chazz sneered, checking his watch. "What will his singing have to do with anything anyway? My dear Lexi-pie is not shallow; she won't be smitten by a good voice unless it is the Chazz's!"

"Exactly!" Atticus cheered happily. "That's why Bastion here is rigging the machine so that Jaden and Driana get paired up!"

Chazz did a double-take, staring at his mentor in utter confusion. "I thought you were still trying to get Alexis and Slacker together. Wait—are you saying that Slacker has feelings for Driana?"

Atticus laughed. "I am saying that Jaden is going through a very confusing time and I'm just pushing the love triangle forward! It's just more fun!"

"Isn't the point of this whole thing to get Jaden and Alexis to admit their supposed 'feelings' for one another?" Bastion asked from below them. Atticus smacked the machine happily.

"Yup! But now we can just sit back and watch the love unfold! It's been awhile since I've seen a full-blown love triangle like this! You bet I'm going to enjoy it!"

"Actually," a new voice entered. It was then that the trio noticed it had gone quiet in the gym, the men staring at the new arrival and the girls glaring jealously. The second they looked into her emerald eyes the boys fell under the spell too, confused out of their minds but not caring. Atticus struggled with himself, recognizing a fellow Master of Love immediately. Just looking at the girl gave him a sense of undeniable power and a heavy lust—he grinned, slipping right into campus-heartthrob mode.

"Hello," he said smoothly, taking her hand and brushing his lips against it in the way that made most girls swoon. When he looked up at her she was smirking, her eyes quizzical. "You must be Artemis, the transfer from Domino. Let me be the first to welcome you into Duel Academy."

She chuckled and his heart raced, exciting him. Her voice was amazing, crisp and smooth, but fast and dangerous... like... like... a bolt of lightning! Wait—that's a great pickup line! "Trust me, you're not the first," she answered levelly, taking her hand from his and looking him up and down.

Atticus' eyes widened. A challenge?

"Now like I was saying before—this love triangle business that you keep talking about," she continued, fluttering her eyelashes at them before sitting up next to them, not even fixing her mini skirt when it hitched up. He felt that lust hit him again, more powerful this time. It took all of his control to not just drop to his knees and spew out every pick-up line that he had ever imagined or heard, no matter how cliché. Chazz, however, was not quite as controlling, and he leaned forward so far trying to see past Atticus that he fell, indeed landing on his knees.

"Artemis, that's the Greek Goddess of the Hunt," he quoted, his voice containing the awe that he usually reserved for Alexis. Atticus frowned, wondering how this girl could completely turn around devotion that religious and make the black-clothed Slifer forget about his misplaced affections so quickly. "The Goddess was supposed to be a master of the bow and beautiful beyond any man's wit. You were named perfectly."

Shocked, Atticus looked between the painfully attractive girl and the usually snobby and compliment-deprived Chazz Princeton. What the hell? This wasn't natural.

"What you forgot," Artemis added, twirling a finger through Chazz's hair tantalizingly, "is that Artemis vowed to always be a maiden and thought men were weak and had no use in the hunt."

Chazz (who had been transfixed with the girl's smooth strokes) deflated considerably, his head hanging. Artemis smiled lightly, making the entire room seem completely smaller and darker, like her smile was the only light. Oh Ra, what the heck was going on here?

"But I do believe men have some uses," she continued, averting her eyes to the ceiling and smirking again. Atticus was glaring at her suspiciously now, the only guy with enough wits left in the room to do so. There was something about this attraction that he felt he recognized, and his own pride was more than enough to keep him from falling heel-over-head for this new girl.

"Who are you exactly?" he asked in the spiraling awed silence.

She laughed, the sound making every male in the room step forward eagerly. "I'm the old matchmaker at my school, voted campus hottie unanimously, and one of the top duelists. Artemis for short."

"A matchmaker?" he repeated, glad that his initial impression had been right. "Well let me introduce you to the Master of Love, me. By the way, may I say you look stunning?"

She remained silent, playing with a bracelet on her wrist.

"In most places you're supposed to return a compliment," Atticus whispered.

"If one doesn't have anything nice to say it's better to say nothing at all," she replied, looking up at him past her lashes, her emerald eyes flashing with mischief. He shuddered, feeling his spine go cold and tingle. "I was talking to a few students earlier and they said something about you getting their help to get a pair together, and I wanted to see some action. But now I hear it's a love triangle? It seems like more than that to me, but I guess not everyone really sees things so clearly."

Affronted into forgetting that she had just magically made Chazz Princeton fall to his knees in a matter of seconds, Atticus reclaimed his wits and dramatically cried, "Oh! How your words hurt my heart fair Goddess! Are you suggesting that I know nothing of love?"

"Quite frankly, yes," she said bluntly. Atticus' (and the girls' in the room) jaw dropped. "I can see after only a few minutes in this school that this lover-boy,"—she pointed to Chazz—"is hopelessly devoted to this 'Alexis' girl, which adds another branch on. And I've heard something about a certain 'wink' incident directed at the boy, Jaden. And from what I've heard right now he can't figure out if he's in love with Alexis or, another player, Driana. And you've got to have some interest in this if you're going this far to get one of them together, so that's another branch. And right now Chazz here seems to be smitten by me, so isn't that another branch is this tangled mess of love?"

Atticus blinked. Twice.

"Tell you what, I love a challenge," Artemis continued when the older Rhodes sibling remained silent. "I'll take that Alexis girl and you take Driana. That way, we can see who wins at the end of the day, which can make who fall in love."

"No wait, I'm Alexis' brother, so I'm going to be the one helping her," he answered, shaking his head. Artemis shrugged, her tank top strap falling down her arm. Ever so slowly, she reached down and pulled it back up, watching him as his eyes followed where that hand went. He couldn't help it! He didn't understand it! He had never felt anything like this before, what was going on?

"It's a deal," she said, snapping him out of his thoughts, holding out her gloved hand to shake with. He hesitated, wondering if he touched her if he could still control the crazy amounts of want that was pumping through his veins. Their fingers brushed together before he took her hand and he felt his heart race even faster, his adrenaline spike, and a small sweat to break out on his forehead. She smirked and leaned closer, kissing the side of his face.

He stiffened completely when she stayed there, completely in his personal space. "You're supposed to kiss my cheek," she whispered in his ear, her voice now smoldering and sparking, electrocuting his pride. Why was he having so much trouble with this girl?! Girls fell for him, not the other way around!

But his body was hypnotized, and his lips gently brushed against her cheek, sealing the deal. She stepped backwards quickly and took everything in with her sharp predator gaze. Then she smiled and twirled on the balls of her feet again, her skirt fanning out slightly, and swayed out of the room, leaving them all dazed and staring at the place she had just been.

Atticus was the first to recover, now realizing that he felt nothing for her at all, like she had never even been there in the first place. Utterly confused, he turned back to the struck males and the angry females and waved his hands around. "You heard the women! Tonight's the big night! Let's get everything perfect!"

That was strange. I've never seen, heard of, or even felt anything like that before. Whoever that girl really is, she's not normal.

_Why do I get the feeling that I just made a deal with the devil?_

**(With Syrus, Hassleberry, Jaden, and Alexis)**

"Hey Jay," Syrus started in the heavy quiet that filled the hospital room. I tore my gaze away from the silent Zane and looked over at him, my eyes apologetic. I think that emotion confused him briefly, but he continued on slowly and deliberately, "In your duel with Zane... well, we were all getting shocked, and the setting was high so it burned us..."

I nodded at him, letting him continue.

"But I was just looking at yours and them comparing them to Alexis' and mine and well..." he trailed off, putting his hand next to mine and pulling down my sleeve. I blinked, surprised at the difference. His were light, almost not there at all, just barely streaking away from where the collar had been, and mine were a deep and ragged red, venturing farther than his and coming up to my knuckles at one point.

"That's weird," Hassleberry commented, staring at the marks. "Private Trusedale here is fairer skinned than you Serge, so if anything, he should've gotten it worse. Same as Alexis here," he added, jerking his thumb over at her. I frowned and furrowed my brow, miffed.

"Maybe yours was on a higher setting," Alexis suggested, touching the burns. I flinched slightly and she pulled away. "Sorry."

"It's no problem Lexi," I shrugged, examining them myself.

"But that doesn't make sense either," she continued, her hand finding its way to her chin thoughtfully. "If anything ours should have been the ones that were set higher, because we all passed out before you. It wouldn't make sense that yours would be set so much higher and you'd still be able to finish the duel... it's just not humanly possible..."

I'm not sure if Haou is human though.

I shrugged, looking them over again, only slightly frowning. I had a plausible guess as to why that was, but it didn't explain why Zane would set it higher, he didn't know about Haou... and his own collars were only set onto the others' settings, and he wouldn't cheat, not even in his condition now...

"Jaden? Are you alright?"

I jumped, aware that the others had just noticed my sour expression and that I was the center of attention again. I grinned at them sheepishly, rubbing my wrist, and replied, "Yeah, I'm good. I just hate not knowing what's going on, ya know? Like what happened to those people that were with Zane?"

The topic shift worked rather well.

"That's a really good question," Syrus muttered, staring down at his brother curiously. "And Zane has always been a loner; I wouldn't have expected him to even have cronies to boss around! Something is definitely not right here... Do you think this is kinda like last year? Another weird cult organization thing taking over students, one at a time?"

"I hope not!" I replied brightly. "But then again when do we ever have a normal year at Duel Academy?"

"Never!" Hassleberry laughed, thumping me on the back. Hearing the loud noises, Ms. Fontaine ventured into the little room again, holding up a bunch of papers and X-Rays. Syrus immediately looked up at her, hopeful, and she smiled.

"I've got good new and bad news," she sighed, plopping them down on her desk before turning to us. I blinked, feeling anxious. Had she figured out whatever I had done to Zane after I gave into Haou? Would she connect me to it? "I know what happened to Zane. Jaden, you don't have to worry anymore, it's not your fault."

I blinked, surprised. Not my fault? But Haou...

"It seems as though during his underground dueling, his heart has been weakened by electrocuting himself everyday," she scowled. "Idiot. He just finally over-exerted himself in your duel Jaden, and he collapsed because of it. The electricity is also causing damage to his nervous system, so when you combine it, he's in a coma. I want to say that he'll eventually recover, but I don't want to jinx it. I'll just say that he's got a pretty good chance of it if he just stays strong."

It was like a weight was just lifted right off of my shoulders, stopping the forces around me from consuming me and crushing me to the ground. I didn't hurt Zane by giving in Haou; it was Zane's own shock collars that made him wind up here. There had never been any true danger to my friends, and there never would be. I could stay here and protect the ones I... love... as long as I needed to now. Everything was going to be fine now, even if Haou did show up again, I know now that's he's not dangerous if he didn't hurt my enemy/friend.

My newly returned smile must have been freaking my friends out, because Hassleberry poked me in the shoulder and discretely asked if I was alright. I nodded brightly and vigorously, almost laughing in giddy relief. No one was in danger! Things were finally going back to normal!

"Yeah! I'm great! I'm just happy that Zane will get better!" I replied quickly, turning my blinding smile on Syrus instead. He tackled me in a hug, surprising me enough to fall out of my stool, and was sobbing happily into my chest. "Err... Sy?"

"Jaden! You're back!" he cried, practically strangling me. Hey, so what if he's short, he's still got crushing hugs! "And Zane is gonna be fine!"

"Um... Where'd I go?" I asked, patting him awkwardly. My friends just laughed and stared at my face like it was the first time they had ever seen me smile. "Uh... Seriously guys, what I'd miss?"

* * *

**(Jaden POV)**

Jesse and I activated our duel disks one hour later, excited to finally get into the duel. "Jesse! Dueling a guy like you all of the sudden has got me really excited!"

"Me too! I've been looking forward to dueling you!" the bluenette answered easily.

"Let's go!" I shouted, making sure all of the students watching us could hear.

"Bring it!"

"Duel!"

"My turn! Draw!" Jesse announced, taking his sixth card from his hand and looking at it happily.

I heard Chazz's rough voice call from my group of friends up on the balcony, "Is that a Crystal beast?"

Sure enough, my opponent grinned like a maniac and called out, "Come out, Crystal Beast Emerald Turtle!"

"Whoa," I muttered, shielding my eyes briefly as a large glow of light appeared on the dueling arena, emitting from an emerald Crystal that had appeared. When the glow faded, a giant turtle was in the Crystals place, it's back made of glittering emerald that matched my opponent's eyes perfectly.

"A Crystal beast?" I heard the new guy—Adrian Gecko—(mental laugh) says to himself up on the balcony. The arena had fallen silent now, everyone waiting to see the powerful Crystal Beasts in action, myself included. But, for some unknown puberty reason probably, I felt like I had seen or at least heard of these Duel Monsters from somewhere before...

All of those thoughts were whipped out when the turtle spoke up. "I was sleeping Jesse! What is this place?"

Surprised, I just stared blankly at the monster before turning to Jesse to see his reaction to the fellow. He just smiled and said, "I was telling you about it before, Duel Academy!"

The turtle seemed to nod inside of its shell and its voice quavered slightly. "Oh, so this is it... there are a lot of people out there..."

Jesse grinned again at his friend and encouraged, "I'm counting on you, so show me your best! Besides, we can't underestimate our opponent today, or we'll lose!"

Then Emerald Turtle turned and looked directly at me (I think anyway, his head is still in his shell so it's kinda hard to tell). "I see... he looks very strong and has a good look in his eyes."

Well, I had enough of just standing by and letting this awesomeness go un-proclaimed! "Sweet! You can talk with your spirits!"

Jesse chuckled and explained, "That's because these guys are my friends, no, they're my family."

I smiled slightly at the thought, agreeing with him mentally. Duel monster spirits had always been more of a family to me than my never-at-home parents. Thinking about it... when did I really start to see spirits again? Hmm...

"Duel monsters are your family? You say some pretty interesting things!"

"What are they talking about?" Hassleberry asked my friends up in the stands, and I almost laughed, forgetting that they couldn't see what we saw on the dueling field. We probably looked insane! (Not that most of the school doesn't think I'm crazy anyway.)

"Just worthless socialization."

From Chazz, of course. I never got why he didn't really go crazy about seeing Duel Spirits, shouldn't he be happy that he got this special ability to see something hardly anyone else can? I thought that's what he wanted to do, stand out!

"Next I set one card face-down, that's all," Jesse announced, drawing my attention back to the game. I easily refocused my energy onto the duel, feeling the competitive currents running through the air between us already. I had almost forgotten how great it was to loosen up in a duel! I've definitely got to catch up on all of the duels I've been missing!

Grinning, I announced, "Here I go! My go, draw! I summon Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin!" I held the card out proud, and for a split second nothing happened, making me wonder what the heck my friend was doing, when suddenly a huge comet burst down from space and appeared on the dueling field in just as showy of a way Emerald Turtle had appeared.

Show-off, I mentally sent to him, laughing at his antics. He pretended not to hear and just smiled at Jesse and Emerald Turtle kindly.

"Whoa! So these are the heroes from space I've heard rumors about? The Neo-Spacians?" Jesse cooed, amazement lighting up those green eyes like fireworks. I felt something tugging at my heartstrings for the billionth time this year, but this time it didn't hurt or feel uncomfortable in any way. This feeling calmed and soothed me, almost making me relax into a content nap time. I shook it off, making a mental note to get more sleep in class, and got myself back into the game again, just trying to push all of these weird events to the back of my mind for now. I settled with listening to the new audience to hear their reactions.

"That's great!" the guy with the crocodile on his back shouted, looking optimistic and happy, his one showing eyes alive with excitement.

"Aliens vs. legendary beasts? That's quite a sight to see," Adrian commented with a slightly smirk on his face, leaning onto the railing as if to get a better look at us. Pumped up again and wanting to give the new students a good welcome into the school, I continued with my move.

"I discard one card from my hand and activate Aqua Dolphin's special effect, Echolocation! From your hand, I destroy the card with 300 ATK and inflict 500 points of damage to you!"

Jesse flinched as the waves attacked his hand and one of his cards appeared in solid form, Ruby Carbuncle, before vanishing into the Graveyard.

"You little...! You destroyed my Ruby!" Jesse announced, stating the obvious. I noticed his southern drawl got a little less noticeable when he said that, as if he was reverting to some other accent he had picked up from somewhere...

I shrugged it off, deciding I really didn't care. The duel was way too much fun to worry about accents! "Next I activate the card Over Soul! Now I can special summon an elemental hero from my graveyard!"

"So the card you discarded earlier..." Jesse mumbled, his gaze shifting to my Graveyard.

"So come out Neos!"

The tall alien appeared in the same fashion as Aqua Dolphin had, making the big space entrance as if trying to impress the Crystal Beasts in some Duel Monster type thing. It seemed to work on Jesse, because he was bouncing from foot to foot energetically, waving his hands around.

"So he's Elemental Hero Neos? Cool! Shit, if we weren't in the middle of a duel, I'd ask him for an autograph!" he trilled, thrilled with the presence of the monster. Then his face settled into a smirk and he continued, "But I've been waiting for you to summon a new monster."

"What?" I asked, bewildered.

"Trap, activate! Induced Summon! When a monster is special summoned onto the opponent's field, both players can special summon, from their hands, one level 4 or less monster."

"Ah, you scared me! For a second I thought you were going to destroy Neos," I admitted easily, my hand fluttering over my heart to emphasize my point.

Emerald Turtle chuckled loudly from his shell, startling me slightly. "Like Jesse is the kind of person who would do something like that!"

"In my deck, aside from counter cards, there aren't any cards that destroy my opponent's cards," Jesse said, continuing Emerald Turtle's train of thought. For my part, I didn't understand as usual.

"Huh?"

"It's easy to destroy a monster with an effect," Jesse explained, "But it's the same as sealing your opponent's potential before being able to see it. I always wanted to see my opponent's true power. That way, both sides can do their best. That's the kind of duel I aim for!"

I blinked heavily at that, my eyelids almost feeling like they were too heavy to be opened again. I was getting an overwhelming sense of Déjà vu from that little speech, and it, added with all of the tension that was just unloaded from my shoulders, was seriously making me want to take a nice long nap. I shook my head discreetly, still trying to get away from this fatigue. I mean, come on, Jesse's a really cool opponent to go up against and I'm practically falling asleep? Not cool, not cool at all.

"Wow, you really are an interesting guy!" I commented, trying to keep myself awake. My usual fire had died down in these last few minutes and I wondered absently if I should even be dueling after last night... Naw, dueling could never hurt me!

"Come on Jaden, summon a new monster!" Jesse laughed, apparently aware of my wandering mind.

"Right!" I blushed. "Come out, Neo-Spacian Ground-Mole!"

"I choose Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle!" Jesse countered.

"There are so many people here today!" the big eagle commented the second it was free from the confines of its Crystal.

"Don't get reckless Eagle," Emerald Turtle chided lightly. Then Crowler and the hopefully French guy talked about something, but I was so used to tuning them out now in detention and class that I didn't really catch what they said. This is probably a good thing I guess.

"Go, Neos! Attack! And next, Grand-Mole's attack! Aqua Dolphin! Direct attack!" I announced, punching the air like I usually did when I landed the hits. I smiled when his life-points dropped and my old dueling energy went lighting up inside me again, even better than coffee! (Not that I would know of course, everyone keeps me faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrr away from coffee.)

"All right! Serge defeated the Crystal Beasts!" Hassleberry cheered for me as I squinted through the smoke. I felt like I was forgetting something important all of the sudden, but I couldn't place what it was until Chazz said:

"No."

Sure enough, the smoke cleared and my instincts were right again. The Cobalt and Emerald still remained on the field, crystallized in the magic and trap zone. "Huh? What's that? I thought we defeated the Crystal Beasts," I asked, the question pointed at anyone willing to answer.

"Sorry, but that's the special ability of the Crystal Beasts. That is, when destroyed, they crystallize and remain in my trap and magic zone!" He didn't really sound all that sorry, just really happy.

"What?!" I half-shouted, amazed at the power and bond that Jesse shared with his family.

"So if the crystals aren't destroyed, then the Crystal Beasts can't be defeated?" Alexis mumbled from her seat. I could feel her hazel eyes boring into me, trying to read what I would do to fix this duel.

"Wonderful!" Jim's voice shouted, breaking the heat of Alexis' stare.

"I've never seen something like this before!" Adrian commented. The quiet guy called Axel just stared down blankly along with the muscle-guy named Drake. Their gazes unnerved me slightly, especially Drake's for some reason...

Darn it! I'm doing it again! Focus Jaden!

"Awesome! Awesome! Your monsters are really great!" I complimented.

"That's the power of the Crystal Beasts! The power, along with my own determination, to never give up in a duel!" he told me, grinning infectiously.

I smiled as brightly as I could at that, overjoyed to hear that someone else shared the same views as me and could see Duel Spirits and talked to them like normal even if he was surrounded by people. It was like having a brother or something, and I already just trusted him so much...

* * *

**(Later)**

"You see? During this turn, if you did this, wouldn't it have been better to do this?" Jaden advised his blue-haired twin energetically in the setting sun, moving his cards around easily, as if he had been doing it his entire life.

Jesse nodded in agreement, but moved the card back and showed Jaden something else. "I really should have done that, but I was trying to do this here..."

"I see..." Jaden responded, his face content and dreamy in the splashes of warm light.

"Aside from that thought, during this turn, you..." Jesse trailed off, showing the other boy what he meant instead by picking up Jaden's card and arranging them around.

"Jay?" Syrus asked quietly from afar, standing with his rival and the two rich teens, Aster and Chazz. He stared at his best friend in confusion, wondering if it was meeting this boy that had brought the old Jaden back to life so quickly. Betrayal flashed briefly across his face before he pushed it down, willing it to be nothing—that he was still best friends with Jaden.

"Err, isn't it peaceful?" Hassleberry whispered, trying to break the silent tension hanging in the confused air around them. Chazz just batted away the feeble attempt with a swipe of his hand, or it could have been duel spirits for all they knew, and asked the question that they were all dying to know.

"What's up with them?"

Aster rolled his blue eyes at the sight, obvious bored or maybe even amused by the sight of another Jaden. "Looks like we have another dueling moron. I'm heading back to the Pro Leagues."

Alright, bored.

"That's it! That's it!" Jesse announced loudly, smiling brightly as their duel spirits surrounded them, all smiling and getting along just as well as the two duelists.

"Ah! I see!" Jaden replied, and he felt like he really was starting to see. Spending time with Jesse was like he was fitting two pieces of the puzzle together, like they belonged together, like family. Just feeling the easy trust flowing between them and not even caring that they really knew nothing about one another, it was just like it was meant to be. And he was tired of trying to figure everything out; he had never been good at doing it in the long run. Short little things like the Dueling Giant were easy for him because they were others peoples' emotions, but when it came to his own emotions, he was lost. So he was just going to let his feelings play out and see what happened, hoping for the best. After all, he was the hero, and no matter what happened, good always beat evil in the end, right?

"Jaden!" Syrus called out to me. I looked up from our cards and Jesse to see him standing off in the distance, and to my surprise, I saw that the sun had set already! I didn't even notice with all of the lights on out here. For some reason my little bluenette friend shot Jesse a searching look and then turned to me, all smiles. "We've got to go get ready for the party Jay!"

Jesse cocked his head to the side curiously, wondering what was going on, while I thanked Sy for coming and finding me. He practically glowed under my praise and looked as though he was trying not to be snobby for some reason, which got me completely confused. He was acting really strangely around Jesse and me, which has to be really weird when I noticed it.

"What's going on now?" Jesse finally asked, helping me pick up our cards and sorting through them easily. Every time our hands would brush I'd feel that tingle go through my being, making my spine feel like gelatin. But I couldn't help but keep 'accidently' doing it. The feeling definitely wasn't bad or anything, not that I did pick up any I'm-an-evil-guy vibes from him at all, it felt warm and comforting, once again, like we had been friends since the day we were born or something. I liked it, a lot.

But that confused me too, just adding another bulletin onto my gynormous list. Well at least this is a positive one, right?

"There's a party for you guys tonight with the entire school," I answered easily, although I hardly knew anything about it at all. "I think it's to help you guys blend into the school or something, meet new people, ya know?"

"But I'm doing that already!" Jesse laughed, standing up with me as we turned our attention as one over to Syrus, who now looked slightly freaked out. We both cocked our heads to the side.

"What's up Sy?" I asked, not even surprised when Jesse asked the exact same thing. For some reason that seemed to creep out the bluenette even more, because his mouth hung open for a few minutes.

"You guys are twins or something, I swear!" Syrus finally managed to shout, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically.

"Huh? No we're not."

His right eye twitched before he grabbed me around my wrist and started pulling me back to the dorm, making curt 'follow us' motions to Jesse like some overprotective mother or something, making me laugh a bit. "Whoa Sy! Slow down buddy, where are ya taking us?"

"The others are waiting at the Slifer Dorms for us, we're just going to make sure we all go in together so we don't lose each other in the crowd," Syrus answered, his voice quavering slightly at the possibility of being all alone in one giant mob of students. "Oh! Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go after all..." Syrus muttered, his grip loosening.

"Come on Sy," I chirped happily, giddy with relief and energy that I hadn't had before my duel with Jesse. "You've got to come to the party! We'll all be there to back you up anyway buddy! Plus, it's just a party, nothing to be scared about at all!"

"Famous last words Jaden?" Bastion said, coming into view. I grinned toothily at him and counted off my friends absently making sure that all of us were here. My eyes rested on Driana, who had a frozen look on her face, and then Jesse, who she was staring at. Suddenly apprehension washed over us all as we watched the two of them stares at each other as if the other had died, and then suddenly Driana flung herself into Jesse's arms, sobbing with earnest.

Something ugly flared up in my chest, making my heart slow and constrict instead of do its usual quick-and-long routine. I did not like the two of them so close together, so intimate, him wrapping his arms around her and holding her... I hated it.

I blinked, coming back to myself as if I had just run head-first into a brick wall again. What the heck? I thought I just trusted Jesse and Driana and thought they were really close friends, but now why do I have an almost uncontrollable urge to beat them over the head with my duel disk?

"I'm so glad you're alright Jesse!" Driana cried, keeping her face buried into his chest as if she knew how angry this display was making me and was just toying with me. My fists clenched tightly and then I forced myself to breath and relax. She didn't know, she was just attached to him for some reason and he wasn't doing much to push her off...

Calm down Jaden!! She _loves_ you, remember!

But for some reason knowing that just didn't seem like enough anymore.

She pulled away, wiping at her eyes, and I noticed that her make-up didn't even run like it had in Chemistry when I accidently set off the sprinklers and half of the girls in the class had long black streaks running down their cheeks from their eyes. It was only a small explosion, and it's not like anyone really liked that corner of the classroom anyway.

Jesse took her by the shoulders, his eyes stunned, looking at her as if he would never see her again. My anger flared up again, but it went unnoticed due to this scene.

"Of course I'm alright!" he assured her gently, wiping his thumb against her cheeks even though there were no tears left. I almost growled at him. "I told you, nothing can keep me down for long! 'Specially not with keeping you worried!"

"You didn't even write me!" she chided him weakly, but the overjoyed expression that she wore tore away and discipline in her words. "I told you to as soon as you got better, but do you listen, noooooo."

"You didn't exactly write either," he laughed, patting her shoulders and hugging her tightly before letting go. Finally.

"How was I supposed to know you were out of the hospital, huh Anderson?" she demanded, sounding for all the world like Chazz, and then I realized that she was imitating Chazz because he started to foam at the mouth in anger.

"You could have called," he teased her lightly.

I had finally had enough. "Hospital?" I asked, keeping my voice light as could be. "What're you guys talking about?"

"Oh!" Driana said, looking towards me in embarrassment and them smiling brightly. She looked at Alexis, who I just noticed had been watching me completely, and continued, "Remember how I told you I transferred over to North Academy in second year to get away from the Society of Light nonsense?"

Alexis nodded tightly, her mouth thin and slanted at the mentioning of it.

"Well I met Jesse over there and we became really tight friends," she continued, weaving her arm through his and smiling up at him, her eyelashes fluttering. I grit my teeth together and clenched my fists even tighter, not caring who was watching me. I couldn't explain this feeling, and it was just when I thought things were going to go back to normal around here. This was definitely like the 'love' that Atticus says I feel for Driana, except it hurts more, and I didn't think that was possible.

Maybe I should just stop thinking and listen.

"Everything was cool up until the end of the year..." she trailed off, looking up at him as if asking for his permission to continue. He smiled down at her like he did to everyone and picked up the story where she left off.

"We were hanging out around the edges of the school, watching the sun set over the ice—"

"Which is very beautiful by the way," Driana added in, making me want to just go up there and melt all of that ice to make her stop thinking about what a beautiful time she had with Jesse. And why was she asking all weird around him? She'd never thrown herself into anyone's arms before, and she's acting all clingy, and—

"And then I..." Jesse faltered, touching his heart. My own was fluttering madly now, hammering against my chest unpleasantly, kindling the angry feeling throughout my entire being.

_(Flashback Jesse-POV)_

"Dri!" I laughed, slipping and sliding over the ice on the outskirts of the school property, trying to catch up with the bouncy girl. She turned around with tongue sticking out, taking off the ice-skates she had managed to conjure up out of nowhere this morning and putting them to the side, sitting on an ice-boulder.

"You're too slow Jesse!" she chirped as I finally caught up with her, huffing and puffing. My heart was racing wildly, and I wondered if I had been out running around for too long in this cold weather after all. But then she smiled and I forgot about my uncomfortable feelings fluttering around in my chest, settling down in the snow next to her and resolving myself for a wet butt.

"There goes the sun," I said, stating the obvious like normal. She didn't comment, after all, this had become a routine for us, watching the sun set as if we were the only two people left on the planet. I personally loved the way the colors reflected off the ice, it made it seem like we were bathed in a rainbow light, like that of my family. She must have been cold because she shifted closer to me, shivering slightly, her breath coming out in little crystal gasps.

My heart started to beat faster, wilder, and when she looked at me I felt like something was about to snap in me, breaking. "It's so beautiful Jesse," she said. "I like it out here, just the two of us."

It was starting to get painful now, the beating. It was picking up, hammering against my rib cage as if it were desperately seeking passage out of my body, drilling away. My breaths came out shorter, but I thought it was nothing, just over-exerting myself from all of the running we had been doing today.

I looked back up at her, into her sapphire eyes, and smiled, hiding the uncomfortable pain. "Yeah, beautiful, like always."

Her cheeks were flushed pink with cold and the tip of her nose was red, but her eyes were smoldering like fire in the sunlight, and the fire seemed to be picking up in my heart, mixing everything together in fuzzy shades of blue, black, and gold. I was dimly aware of my hand slipping and my torso falling, collapsing into the snow, and I didn't know what was wrong anymore. The numbness had finally claimed me. Driana's voice was echoing around me in a sweet symphony of angelic concern, but I just smiled, told her that she was beautiful again, and then my world went white.

_(End Jesse's flashback moment)_

"I had a heart attack."

"What?" I blustered out, all of my thoughts crashing into each other in one helpless train-wreck.

"I don't know how or why," Jesse continued, shaking his head at me to answer my question, "cuz I've never had heart problems before or anythin'. I was just lookin' at Driana here, and the next thing I know my heart feels like it's gonna explode it starts beatin' so fast. I woke up in a hospital with this little lady next to me, worried out of her mind."

"Then I had to leave the next day to catch the end of second year so it would still count as a Duel Academy course, so I didn't hear from him until now," Driana finished, staring up at Jesse again as if she was certain that he was going to vanish into the air again. But then I noticed that she was really tensed up when she looked at him, like she was afraid.

I felt all of the anger and annoyance melt away; evaporating off of me like the hot air it was and allowed the sinking feeling to settle in the pit of my stomach. I was just being stupid again, there was nothing going on between Jesse and Driana, she had just been worried about him. I would probably tackle him too if I had been there with them...

"So what Jesse, were the two of you together or something?" Atticus asked suddenly over the others, his gaze darting to me and smirking before turning back to Jesse. Driana made a funny little noise somewhere between and snort and a squeal and Jesse just looked confused.

"Why would you think that?" he asked and I breathed in relief, earning a rather heated gaze from Alexis. Oh Ra what was going wrong with the world?

"Just ignore my brother," Alexis answered rather loudly, thwacking him over the head for good measure. "He tends to think that friendship between boys and girls are bound to turn into boyfriends and girlfriends. Right Jay?"

Her gaze was practically scorching my skin off. "Right Lexi!" I answered brightly to hide my surprise. She was getting the anger that I got when I was watching Driana and Jesse? Or was she glaring at me cuz I said her brother wouldn't bother her (roughly) and yet here he was in our group? Yeah, that's probably it. She said it herself; she doesn't have feelings for me at all. It'd be ridiculous for us to go out.

My own sourness surprised me. Puberty sucks.

"So you guys ready to go or what?" I asked in the awkward silence, effectively leading my friends away from the dangerous topic of the pain known as love. We walked on, talking about pointless things for the remainder of the trip, Syrus and I goofing off with Hassleberry, Chazz showering an annoyed Alexis in compliments, and Alexis glaring at me like she hated my guts. What had I done?

* * *

**(Alexis POV)**

"My dear Lexi-pie, you look so beautiful in the moonlight tonight!" Chazz cooed in worship for the thousandth time in five minutes, so I shot another slathering glance at the Slifer Slacker who had made all of this happen.

_(Flashback)_

I turned a page of my book with interest, wondering how it was going to end, and then Chazz burst into the Girl's Dorm, blatantly ignoring the "No-Boys" rule. But then again it was alright for them to be here in the daytime in full view of everyone else, but we tended to keep that a secret to stop the crazy stalkers from getting us.

"My dearest!" Chazz announced, falling to one knee dramatically. I rolled my eyes and went back to reading my book, hoping that I could just ignore him and he would go away. "I have great news!"

I sighed, knowing that reading wasn't going to be enough to drown him out and that it would be more painless for me to just get it over with before he embarrassed me in front of the entire Girl's Dorm. "What is it Chazz?"

"Your brother has finally stopped trying to get you and Slacker together, and now we can finally fall in love and be at peace for all eternity!"

I almost threw up. "Chazz, how many times do I have to tell you, I don't love you. Can't we just be friends or something? You'd honestly have a better chance if you just got to know me first you know."

"You're giving me a chance?" he asked, his eyes shining with puppy-love. Oh Ra.

"NO!" I shouted, hiding my face in my book so I couldn't see him sulk and pout or strike his 'The Chazz' pose. "Did my brother finally figure out that Jaden and I are just friends?"

Chazz made a noise that suggested he thought I was lying but I ignored it, finishing a page and starting to turn it to the next one. "No, he just found out that Driana is head-over-heels in love with Slacker."

RRRRRRRRIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPP!!!

The new page was half-hanging out of the book, my face frozen. I peered dangerously over the edge of my book at Chazz, willing him to give me more information for reasons that I didn't quite understand. "What? How did he figure that out? Love? Jaden? What?"

He smiled when he saw I wasn't about to beat his unsuspecting hide with my heavy book and went down to his knees with the story, his voice carrying across the room for all to hear. Thankfully Driana was nowhere to be seen.

"Atticus and I were digging around and we figured out that Slacker had to know something because of the way he reacted when we asked him what happened after you all passed out. So we cornered him up on the roof and got him to confess."

"No way, if Jaden knew anything about Zane he would tell us. He wouldn't put us in danger," I answered, smoothing the page back into place sadly. I hated to ruin such a good book.

"That's what we thought, but it wasn't about the duel after all. Driana had told Slacker that she loved him. Don't know why anyone would fall for such a dork like him instead of 'The Chazz', but she did and she freaked out Slacker real bad."

"So what does that have to do with you being here?" I asked, making sure that the fact my teeth were jammed so hard together that they might crack at any given moment in time was concealed beneath my novel.

"Simple!" Chazz announced loudly to the very much eavesdropping Girl's Dorm. "Slacker has a stupid crush on her, that much is obvious, nothing like the power of my love for you sweet Alexis, so now he is out of our way and you can admit your undying love for me now that you won't hurt the reject's feelings!"

She flicked him across the forehead as hard as she could, still had enough of a sense of reality to not smack him across the face. Her muscles tensed just as much as her teeth and a white-hot searing pain erupted from her heart, accompanied by some sense of unknown longing for Jaden's presence. She wanted him to be right there telling her this, not Chazz.

She wouldn't believe it until he told it to her himself. But the thought that he would fall in love with the girl unsettled her somehow, made her heart beat painfully slow and then fast, left her with a bad taste in her mouth. "Really?" she managed to say.

"Really," Chazz squeaked back in response, rubbing his forehead. "Atticus is talking to Slacker about it right now actually, the idiot has absolutely no idea what love is at all, unlike 'The Chazz'! And I will prove it to you my dear!"

And he tried to. Over and over again. All day. Because Jaden had a crush on some other girl.

_(End flashback)_

I didn't want to use the word love because I don't think that Jaden is capable of understanding it any farther than family. Plus, I don't think that teenagers can ever really fall in love with all of the raging hormones distracting us, and Chazz himself is one of my prime examples.

Jaden's hormones must just be finally waking up, about time. He's probably just crushing on every other girl that he sees—so nothing to worry about, other than what Jaden's reaction will be himself. No wonder he seemed so freaked out lately, he must not understand why he gets the 'fuzzy feeling' when he looks at girls around the island. Really, it must be horrible for him.

Especially since Seto Kaiba is prejudice towards females and sticks us all in Obelisk Blue with short skirts and skin-tight uniforms. Yeah, this is a great place for poor Jaden to start to get puberty. And my brother is explaining it to him. Great.

But, disregarding everything that I just thought, his hormones did bring on the Chazz Plague, and I'm not sure I'll be able to make it through the night with him hanging on my every little word.

So I was mad and annoyed, and I was tired of taking it out of Chazz. Unfortunately for Jaden he was on the receiving end of this one, even though I'm not sure why I felt so justified in glaring at him every time he looked at Driana and Jesse with jealousy in his chocolate brown eyes. Maybe it was because Chazz would compliment me every time he noticed it happening. Whatever, all that mattered was that I could try and talk to Jaden about his little 'problem' and help him more than anything my brother could possibly do.

But judging about how he kept looking at me in confusion to my glares I was going to have a lot of explaining to do first.

Tonight was going to be _so much fun_.

* * *

**(Jaden POV)**

Tonight was just going to be fun!

Alexis stopped glaring at me finally so I think I managed to fix whatever it was that I did wrong and Driana is walking right next to, really close, so close that I can feel her body heat between my thin Slifer Jacket, and Jesse is laughing with me and my friends on my other side.

Yes, all was finally content in Jaden-land.

I really didn't know what caused Alexis to stop sending those I'm-mad-at-you vibes so suddenly, but she was just suddenly talking to me and laughing along with everyone else, and I didn't even notice that Atticus and Chazz had slipped off until Bastion pointed it out. We just kept going, figuring they must've had some "Super-Secrete-Love-Master-Detective-The-Chazz-Thing" to do.

I was looking forward to the music and dancing around even though I'd never really danced in my life, but I wasn't really worried about making a fool of myself. That's what friends were supposed to do at these kinds of things anyway right?

I think that's why I was so surprised when we walked up to the gym doors. We all came to a jarring halt just inside and the door closed behind us, submerging us in darkness, washing out our faces from each other. We had expected to see a brightly lit gymnasium and crowds of excited students, but instead found that they we had stumbled into a barely lit corridor filled up to the ceiling with fake cobwebs, spiders, and creepy music. We all exchanged glances with each other and Syrus clung to me as closely as humanly possible, terrified.

The only lights came from very dim candle-like things hanging from the ceiling and the sounds came from recorded 'tap-tap-taps' and 'thumps'. When my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness I could just barely make out Driana slightly ahead of me, bent over and trying to read a sign on the ground.

She snorted suddenly and returned to my side. "It says Tunnel of Love," she announced, taking my hand and leading me forward. "Come on guys; let's just get this over with."

I was still stunned by her sudden boldness of taking my hand. But admittedly I liked it, and my heart fluttered excitedly in my chest when the cold of her touch cooled off my mind.

"Wait Jaden!" Syrus suddenly squeaked, causing me to turn back and drop the girl's hand. He was cowering where I had been two seconds ago, having let go when I moved forward, obviously wanting to be let out. I laughed and walked over to him, dragging Driana along with me. "This wasn't part of the plan! You said it wouldn't be scary Jay!"

I shook my head and boldly took a step forward. After all, what I thought I have been up against had to be worse than anything Atticus Rhodes could come up with in one day. "Cone on, we've got to bet through to go to the sweet party Sy!"

"Jay!" the bluenette whined, stumbling as I pulled him forward.

"Come on Sy, Atticus built this! There's no way this thing is really scary!" I assured him with a few small chuckles, ignoring the moaning playing in the background and the sound of footsteps. He squeaked again and hovered really close to me, clinging onto me like a six-year-old. Weird how he can go from being mother-hen to scared kid, huh?

I heard the others start to progress through the haunted hallways thing just behind us, and I settled for listening to the tap-tap of Alexis' heeled boots against the gym floor while my eyes wandered over all of the shadows. I found that it was rather easy to see into them if I squinted, and I was so absorbed in looking into a corner at a rather bad imitation of a chainsaw that I was scared out of my mind when the first student jumped out from behind something and screamed, charging at us like a madman.

Syrus, Driana, and I screamed the loudest, being the group up front, and the two smaller teens jumped into my arms, toppling me to the ground while cowering. The student covered in flour then ran off, dried ice mist floating into the room from the door he/she opened and then slammed shut, cackling insanely.

"I don't wanna die!" Syrus yelled, and I laughed, my heart beating wildly from the good scare and from how close Driana was with me again.

"Guys, a little help here?" I whispered, not wanting to ruin the scary effect. Driana laughed and got off of me, yanking the blubbering Syrus off of me.

"Don't open that door Jay, don't open it. They'll come out and we'll get scared to death! I'm allergic to cobwebs! Oh someone please help me!"

"Sy," I sighed, and then made shushing noises conspiringly. "They'll hear you if you keep shouting Sy."

He stopped talking really quickly and made sure I was between him and the door at the end of the 'corridor'. I swept my eyes around the room and didn't see any more students, but then again I had missed the last one, so anyone could be waiting up ahead.

Adrenaline pumped through my system at that thought, making the hairs on the back of my neck raise up more that they did naturally. I took a step forward in the darkness, slowed down slightly by Syrus, and moved closer to the dusty-looking door stationed ahead of us. My eyes went down to the crack where I saw objects darting back and forth in the dim light. Keeping my vision glued firmly on those figures—three, maybe four—I cautiously pushed back cobwebs with my free hand.

Five feet away.

I could feel warm breath against my neck, breathing in short wet bursts. I tensed, about to scream, and then I felt a slight nudge from a warm hand and I knew it was just Alexis. Taking a breath myself, I continued forward, aware of her breath and the moving shapes.

Four feet.

Something was scratching against one of the walls now, it was a dull constant sound, annoyingly just on the edge of animal-like claws. Then all was unnaturally silent.

Three feet.

A scream pierced through the damp air and we all jumped, stunned at the shrill and tortured sound, rooted to the spot. It would have been comical had we all not been scared out of our minds.

I moved forward.

Two feet.

The shapes had stopped now, and someone cackled from behind us. We whirled around and saw only shadows to guide us, the darkness taunting us, threatening to swallow us in its silence.

One foot.

I reached out slowly with my hand, carefully placing each and every one of my fingers on the handle and listening to the nothing as if I could hear what was behind the door. We all huddled together in our little group, staring at the black-painted door with splotches of what was supposed to be blood across it.

The door.

Finally Alexis couldn't take it anymore and jabbed me hard and quick between the shoulder blades. When I turned the knob, the door made loud tell-tale creaks, initiating us all to jump again. I started slowly, building the tension just in case there was nothing there at all and we could all laugh about it later. But Alexis had different plans. She punched open the door so that it slammed against the wall opposite to us, assertive as ever. And behind the door...

Golden eyes stared.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own GX.**

**Did you guys like it?**

**AxJfan**

* * *


	11. Transfer Part 4

**Hello everyone! This is NOT the end of this main chapter, there is still one more... sorry!**

**I'm also sorry for my sparce and random updates, but school has been keeping me down unfortunately. And I have also been Beta-ing for Archer by Artemis Ignitan** **(insert shameless check-out-this-awesome-story-cheer here). **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN YUGIOH GX!!**

**(Jaden POV)**

Haou.

My entire body writhed a crawled in desperate fear, muscles and tendons winding themselves tightly to my bones to appear small and insignificant, the flow of vital systems coming to a crashing halt. I forgot how to breathe, my lungs dried out and my voice shattered like glass. Screams surrounded me in a harsh cacophony of terror, and all I could do was become a statue as I stared down the darker version of myself, staring right back at me. His face was completely black, as if he was just as surprised as I was, albeit his eyes reflected no trickle of emotion or fear, and then laughter sounded around me.

My friends thought this was just some kind of a trick.

I had to protect them.

From what though? Myself? Then how is he standing right in front of me... with all of my friends beside him?!

"A mirror! That was genius!"

I couldn't tell who said that, but it didn't matter. A mirror? Then where was I in this ghostly reflection? All I can see is...

_**I am you,**_ he had said.

My breath was knocked out of me again, harder, more force making my wheeze all the more hearable for my group of friends.

"Sy? I think you can let go of Jaden now. He needs air."

_Haou is me._

"Jay? You alright buddy?"

_I am Haou._

A warm hand descended on my shoulder and turned my chin to see in their face. The contact was shattered—trance was broken.

"Sorry! I'm fine!" I practically shouted, finishing the turn myself and quickly, nearly knocking foreheads with Alexis. Her hand stayed firmly in place, her intelligent gaze searching my eyes for the real answer, that I was anything but 'fine'. "That just gave me a pretty good scare right there!"

I laughed loudly and a bit over-the-top, earning strange glances from all of them in the room. Their scrutiny nearly burned away my defensive line of lies, but then I found my reprieve in the form of Driana. She was still laughing and pointing at the mirror right behind the door as if it were the funniest thing in the world.

"You should have seen your face Jaden!" she chuckled, clutching at her sides and effectively defusing the situation. Ra, I just loved her right then and there.

Wait—did I just really think that?

I shook those thoughts from my head furiously, reminding myself that I was trying to not think about it anymore, to just let it play out, and waved my friends on, leading the way. But I couldn't completely ignore it, it was a constant fear feading on my thoughts and hunting around the edges of my mind, searching any weak or damaged places in my fortress to escape from and take me once again. I repressed a violent shudder and forced myself to smile and appear cheerful for their sake.

I could slip away during the party confusion if nothing else...

"Come on guys! Party time!"

They made a few noises that sounded like wait, but I didn't listen, not daring to stop so I could even catch a glimpse of my reflection running beside me, not daring to think about what I was going to have to do.

Any other attempts to frighten me had no effect, although I'm dimly sure that they scared my friends. How could it scare me anyway? I have something real to fear, and apparently it's myself...

How could this happen?! It doesn't make any sense! How can I be two people at the same time?!

My heart constricted at the distant thought of leaving this place behind as my friends laughed over their latest scare. They would be worried, scared, angry at me for leaving. And they would probably convince Chazz to spare some of his money to drag them to my house and get the answer out of me. How can I protect them without telling anyone? Could I ask the Chancellor to tell them something else... like I had transferred or was dealing with a family emergency or something? Anything?

As usual, I was beating around the bush, avioding the bulk of the problem, putting my friends before me. But I couldn't think about what this meant, about _who I was_, in the middle of their presence. How could I fix something like this when _I'm_ _the evil one?!_

... But... Haou hadn't hurt anyone... had he...? It was Zane's own duels that made him... No, Haou is still dangerous... but _I_ wouldn't, no, _couldn't_ hurt my friends... and if Haou was me... were they really in danger?

Was anyone?

"Hey! There's the light at the end of the tunnel!" Jesse announced loudly, coming up next to me easily and smiling brightly at me. I shot a rather forced grin back to hide my wildly beating heart and thumped him on the back affectionately, although I was biting my tongue to prevent myself from muttering:

_I wish._

"Guys! High-heeled boots and running don't mix!" Driana complained from the back of the group, tripping over herself a bit. Alexis rolled her eyes and pointed down at her own Obelisk shoes as if showing how easy it really was. And to her it had always been, I noticed. She always had to run around with us on some misadventure or another, and not once had she ever tripped.

She was just as graceful as she was beautiful, like a swan.

"It's not that hard," she chided her fellow female friend, a harsh annoyance hidden behind her words. I frowned, following any train of thought that I could catch hold of to pull myself back out of the dark pit that I had fallen into.

But she could be just as mean.

I refused to let my lifeline fall as the looming question of whether or not I would turn on my friends... would _become_ what I feared reared its hideous head once again. Chazz's name came floating into my head as he tried to 'protect' Alexis, so I weaved the two together in my mind, unable to let go.

She and Chazz would probably be good together... maybe... I don't know anything about love or relationships, so I'm probably not one to judge... but maybe that's what she meant when she said it'd be ridiculous for us to go out, cuz she really does love Chazz back but is too scared to admit it?

That dark thing reared its ugly head in my chest again, practically obliterating that thought into tiny fragmented pieces in protest. I blinked, right back where I had started in this tangled mess. Not thinking about it didn't work as well as I thought... but I had to keep up the cherade, had to keep think about _something_ other than...

Was I... _jealous_?

Jealous of _what_? Alexis and Chazz? Driana and Jesse?

Great, right back where I started.

_"I think I love you."_

Or not. And now... that... in the hallway...

I forced that away, too scared to even try and fathom what that truly meant. How could Haou be me? How could I talk to myself as if I was two different people? How could I not remember what happened when I let Haou out if we were truly the same person?

My head ached, and now I could hear the noises of hundreds of students laughing and talking with their friends. Maybe the party wasn't such a good idea after all...

"Come on Jay!" Sy shouted, picking up speed and dragging me forward as fast as his short legs could take us. "I want to get as far away from that scary place as possible!"

I forced another grin, and he looked back at me sadly before stopping at the edge of the crowd and waiting for our huffing and puffing friends to catch up. "Jay, what's wrong with you?" he asked quietly, staring down at his shoes sadly. "You keep disappearing."

I sighed at looked away, not even bothering to deny it anymore. "When I figure it out I'll let you know," I told him while crossing my fingers slightly, only feeling worse that I was lying right in the face of my best friend.

"You can tell me anything Jay, you're always there for me, so I'm here to return the favor. Maybe we can figure it out together. We're best friends, right?" he asked softly, not meeting my eye.

"I know Sy, thanks for the offer, but this is something I've gotta figure out on my own right now, ok?"

Reluctantly he nodded, his disapproval and disappointment hanging in his everything, making me just want to give him one of my bone-crushing (it only happened once) hugs and tell him what was really wrong. It wasn't fair to him that I couldn't talk to him about this; he must feel so betrayed, like I don't trust him or something.

"I trust ya buddy, alright?" I said, just to try and bat those thoughts away. "I just really need to think this through first, alright?"

He smiled up at me sadly, an improvement at least, he was looking me in the eyes. "Yeah, I know..." he trailed off as the rest of the gang finally caught up and smiled at us happily, most of the gazes lingering on my mask of a face in concern.

To avoid any head-one glances I surveyed the transformed gyms, noticing that there had been several of those little 'Tunnels of Love' stationed around each doorway of the gym and that this room itself was brightly lit and colorful. There were several food stations all of the place, and I saw one student slip some kind of powdery material into one of the punch bowls.

I shrugged it off and then jumped when someone killed the lights. My initial thought was that somehow Haou had just forced my back into my nightmares, but then several students screamed or shouted "BOO!" It was then that I noticed that it didn't seem particularly dark after all, almost like someone had tried to pull white curtains over the window during a sunny day. And as the spotlight came onto the huge stage at the other end of the gym my own light bulb flashed in my head.

_Haou could see in the dark._

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" Atticus Rhodes called from the stage, blowing kisses at several rabid fan-girls.

_I could see in the dark._

"As you could probably all tell, tonight's the night to honor our lovely transfer students and welcome them into Duel Academy!"

Applause and 'whoots' rang out through the audience as I took in this latest little discovery, still trying not to think about it but failing miserably.

"And there's no party without music right? So I've arranged for our own Bastian Misawa to create this amazingly huge karaoke machine that holds nearly unlimited amounts of songs from all around the world! And guess what? You, the students, will be creating the music through karaoke! Isn't that great?"

More cheers and applause.

"And at the very end of the night we'll be having a special round! Three students will be chosen at random to compete in a sing-off! The rules for that will be explained to the contestants backstage, and my assistants and I will spend the entire night preparing them for it! It'll be a great show!"

A sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Oh Ra, please tell me he didn't do what I think he did...

"And now watch the screen! Bastian and Chazz have entered all of your names into this system, and I now we well select the students! Go!" he pointed dramatically up at the giant screen behind him, which lit up several different colors, and wagged his hips a bit, making a few girls faint.

The names stopped.

He did.

"Well! What do you know? Looks like our first contestant is the top duelist in this school, Jaden Yuki!"

I groaned and my friends laughed, pushing me up towards the stage when I protested, and soon the rest of the student body was shoving me towards it. Reluctantly I hauled myself up in front of all of them and waited for the other two names to be chosen, although I already had a pretty good idea who I'd be up against.

"Let's start this thing up again! Number two!" Atticus shouted, even though he clearly had a microphone to talk into, and pulled the lever again. The teens all waited with me, their breaths held. "What do you know? Every King needs his Queen!" Atticus chirped excitedly. "Come on down sissy!"

"I'm going to kill him," Alexis informed me as soon as she was next to me.

"Mind if I join you?"

She chuckled. "All the more fun. But when have you been so vindictive Jaden?"

"I'd tell you but I have no idea what you just said," I answered her with a sheepish little laugh, my thoughts drifting dangerously towards the darkness and the mirror again. I reigned it back in and pretended as though I had no clue who the third person would be at all as Atticus pulled the lever again.

"Driana Danchou! Come on up!"

She just laughed as the crowd pushed her up and Atticus helped her take the stage. She settled on my other side and announced, "This is going to be so much fun guys!"

Alexis looked stricken, her eyes darting between me and her quickly.

"What's up Lexi?" I asked as Atticus babbled to the crowd, saying something about volunteers and then randomly picking or something.

"It's nothing, you just sounded exactly like... well Jaden, Driana. This is weird, because you're definitely not acting like Jaden, Jaden."

I opened my mouth to respond but then Atticus jabbed me between the shoulder blades and pushed me back-stage, the other two following grudgingly.

* * *

"That's weird; three of our friends got picked!" Syrus announced while the others tasted the gym floor in a classic face-vault.

"Well Syrus, I'd say it was rigged," Jesse answered, jabbing his thumb at the stage and the baffled looking Jaden being pushed out of view.

"What? Why?"

Jesse shrugged openly, gazing towards the stage absently as a student was selected from the crowd and shoved their way to the stage. "I dunno, I've only been here for a few hours!"

Then he laughed at something in the air and said, "Ruby!" rather loudly, earning confused glances from several onlookers, including the small group of friends. He continued to chuckle softly as if something cute or ridiculous had just happened, but the two rivals missed out simply because they could not see duel spirits. Of course, they just thought that Jesse seemed to be on the same crazy train as Jaden for blatantly talking to thin air because of their ignorance—or rather lack of belief, for they had been subjected to these spirits on several occasions.

To break the awkward silence that the two blind duelists felt, Hassleberry took it under his duty to answer the new student. "Atticus wanted us all to get Serge and Private Lexi together, remember Private Trusedale?" Hassleberry reminded Syrus casually, trying not to stare at the giggling duelist. "So of course they'd be up for grabs in this contest thing!"

"Oh, right," Syrus said, nodding and looking pointedly in the opposite direction so he wouldn't stare either. As his big gray eyes scanned the audience, he noticed that someone was pushing their way towards them, occasionally shouting something hostile at whoever was in his way. Syrus became aware that it was Chazz, and that the other must have been listening in because he instantly picked off where they had left it.

"That," Chazz announced, walking into view and dusting off his hands as if he had just been somewhere very dusty, "and the fact that Slacker has a crush on Driana."

"Huh? Since when?" Syrus asked as Hassleberry jumped a little in surprise from the older boy's sudden appearance.

"Since the day they met, duh shrimp," Chazz scoffed, pushing past them so he could lean against the wall and look ominous.

"Oh? Was that what the two of you were speaking of this afternoon?" Bastion inquired, leaning forward as a line of dancing students pushed past their small group and into the bulk of moving bodies.

"No, we were talking about tacos. Of course we were talking about that! And Atticus thinks that my dear Lexi-pie has a crush on that idiotic Slacker, which is just wrong point-blank, but then again he just likes to bother her, so he's just setting it up so I can get my beautiful Alexis!"

"What's going on now?" Jesse asked, cocking his head slightly to the side, his teal spikes crashing like waves into each other. His laughter had been abruptly extinguished.

"I don't know!" Syrus all but shouted over the first (and rather bad) contestant. "I'm so confused!"

"Calm down Sy," Jesse smiled, patting the bluenette on the back and turning to the other three teens in the little circle. "So why don't you guys explain what's going down for us?"

"Yo Anderson, I can do that!"

Jesse visibly stiffened at the sound of the newcomer's voice. Eyes narrowing, he whirled around and faced Artemis Ryoku, his fists clenched.

The other blinked in utter confusion ping-balling their gazes between the two of them. Artemis showed her pearly white and perfect teeth off in her grin, doing just the opposite and slinking up to them, slinging an arm around the European teen's shoulder. He pushed her off angrily and backpedaled until he seemed to be at what he deemed at safe distance.

"What are you doing here Ryoku?" he snapped.

"Just having a good time, turning over a new leaf you know?" she said evenly, sauntering over so that they were within touching distance again. Jesse's face heated up either with anger or embarrassment, but to which the other teens were clueless. "Can't we just start over huh Jesse?"

"No," he said simply and evenly, his face losing the red tinge.

She frowned slightly, her brow furrowing, and then she placed her hand on his bicep and smiled devilishly. "Come on Jesse, you know that you don't hate me."

"You're right I don't hate you. But it's pretty darn close," he muttered, shaking her off once again. Artemis looked mildly puzzled down at her hand and then up into his emerald gaze.

"I've changed sides Jesse, can't you believe that? Drake and I ran away together. We're just trying to start over, and I wanted to apologize to you... for what happened."

"Like hell you do," the normally mellow boy contradicted. As if to prove his point, his family appeared around him in a protective ring, fur and feathers raised and alert. Chazz blinked at the hostile display before he realized that the girl he had fallen to his knees for suddenly did not appeal to him at all.

Strange.

"Jesse..." she sighed. Then she dug into a pocket that she had on her tight black jacket and forced a card into his hands. He blinked, caught off-guard, and she walked away, oblivious to the tiger and giant pink cat circling her. "Just take it, alright, it'd make me feel better."

Then she disappeared into the crowd.

Jesse took one look at the card and then sigh, pocketing it. He could never throw out a card, no matter how vile and disgusting its owner had been.

"What was that all about Anderson?" Chazz demanded. "You seem to have a lot of secrets."

Jesse hesitated slightly. "Not secrets," he said slowly, "just... rotten luck."

"Huh?" Syrus asked, blinking his eyes rather quickly and curiously in the dim lights as some student continued to sing off-key from the stage.

"I'll tell you guys when there aren't as many people 'round to listen, kay?" he replied waving one of his hands around airily at the sea of students flowing around them in a free current radiating from the music. But his eyes were searching through the waters, following the progress of the emerald-eyed teen that had caused him so much pain in North Academy. She sauntered up to the stage easily, whispering something into the "guard's" ears and then kissing him gently on the cheek, and he let her in, dazed and disoriented.

The crowd suddenly seemed rougher and more treacherous; because a new force was coming into disturb the seemingly calm surface. She was going after Jaden Yuki.

* * *

**(Jaden POV)**

"Atticus, where are you taking us?" I wondered, stumbling while he continued to shove me from behind.

"To your dressing rooms!" he shouted to the heavens as if announcing that we had just won one of the greatest gifts that could ever be given.

"Dressing rooms?" Alexis repeated sourly, thumping him between the shoulder blades so he'd stop pushing me. "Atticus, do I have to tell our parent's what you're doing here?"

"Ouch Lexi!" he whined in response, attempting to rub the spot where she had hit him but failed. He looked around suddenly, nodding brightly at the students dashing around the hastily set up walls that were most likely taken from the drama department. "That new girl Artemis was supposed to come and help you out Driana... but I don't see her anywhere..."

Is it just me or does he sound relieved?

I hesitated in my steps so that I could get a good look at my senior in the same grade's face as he passed me, and my suspicions were confirmed. But then again I was dealing with secrets of my own, so I wasn't one to judge.

Two students passed, holding a large mirror that had been dropped at one point, and I had to look in the other direction as quickly as possible to avoid coming in contact with the eyes of the other me.

How is this all possible?!

"Yo!"

We all turned and the sound of the greeting and Artemis Ryoku came swaying up to us, slinging her right arm through Driana's easily and smiling as if in triumph at Atticus. He bit his lip, but said nothing, looking confused and... flustered? Is that the word?

"Come on honey, I'm your manager for the night. We'll bring the house to its knees when we're finished."

"If you say so!" Driana responded brightly, but then she turned to me, all smiles, and held out her hand in a shake. "Let's promise to do our best and make it a great show for all of our friends!"

She seemed... off. Like she was trying really hard to do something, so hard that she was doing it slightly over-the-top, but what?

"Yeah!" I smiled back, trying not to let anyone see my jumbled mind as I put my hand in hers and shook it firmly. She laughed and I would swear later that I saw something glow from under her shirt collar, but in that moment I forgot everything else.

Pain.

My heart was beating wildly, and it was like nothing I had ever remembered experiencing before. I wanted her to be next to me, I wanted her to laugh and smile at me, but for some inexplicable reason I felt as though for some unexplained and horrible reason that we could never be together, and that drove shards of her ice right down into my erratically thudding heart.

Faster.

Our hands fell away from each other, but I was still staring blankly at her as she did the same motion for Alexis. But it was changing rapidly, this feeling. The sadness increased, making me just for all of the world want to go crawl up in my room and hit things until my physical pain outweighed my emotional. But what? What was hurting me? How is she hurting me just by a single touch? What is this feeling?

I felt as if I was slowly being killed, some poison having found its way into my heartbeat and was being pumped slowly throughout the rest of my system, the question of why being echoed over and over again in its destructive wave, pushing all other thoughts far away to the corners of my consciousness, unable to grasp.

My heart continued racing as if it were trying to hammer its way right out of my chest—like it wanted to be given to her. _What in Ra's name was going on?_

It changed once again, suddenly dropping far below what it would normally beat at, and the pain was gone, relieved from me like the antidote I had been silently screaming for. Relief flooded into my overworked system dimly, but my mind now had only one focus. I smiled softly at her when she let go of my friend's hand and turned away, her gaze lingering slightly, dangerous but concerned. She was all that mattered now...

My eyelids dropped slightly as I watched her go, and I felt a small dose of that life-shattering pain still within me, but I could handle it. We wouldn't be gone for long.

"You alright Jaden?"

I blinked heavily, suddenly wanting nothing more than to curl up into a ball and fall asleep. Yawning loudly I turned to face the worried bea-u-ti-ful friend next to me. I smiled at her, feeling as if I was already wrapped in a warm blanket and snuggled deeply into my bed—half-aware.

"Yeah, perfect Lexi!"

She bit her lip, casting her eyes away as if she were hurting. Some part of me wanted immediately to comfort her in whatever was ailing her, but I found that I was mentally unable to, the lull of sleep was just becoming too strong.

"Come on you love birds!" Atticus announced, although for once in his life even he sounded unsure of what to do as he watched me. I shrugged, not bothering to correct him, for it was just screamingly obvious now who I should be with, who I loved.

"Atticus..." It was a sigh from Alexis, even she didn't seem to be in the mood to contradict her brother.

"Oh? So you admit it finally?" he pressed, starting to walk in the opposite direction that the transfer girl had taken my beloved. Alexis stared at her shoe and I started forward mechanically.

"Well I don't know if we—AHH!" I started calmly, only to have every part of me that was just relaxed and at utter peace jump back to life as a shock coursed through my system courtesy of a thick wire that had just slipped under my foot. Surprise broke the low enchanting beat, adding a miss into the rhythm as my face collided with the unsurprisingly hard ground. It was gone, everything. "Ouch..."

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?! I DON'T FEEL THAT—LOVE?—ANYMORE! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!

"Jaden! You're such a klutz!" her voice was forced into horrible enthusiasm.

My body then decided to remind me of all of the things that had been pushed away during my little state and I realized that I was still very much terrified of Haou being myself, very much confused (once again) about my relationship with Driana, and very much worried about Alexis.

I pushed myself up to my feet with a small whine and rubbed my forehead, sneaking glances out of the corner of my eyes at her. She looked like me.

Lost.

"What's up Lexi?"

She jumped just about as far as Syrus probably had when we were confronted with the... mirror. "Umm, nothing Jaden, I'm just worried that this big idiot over here is going to make a fool of us."

"Hey! I'm used to being the fool already! It's not that bad Lexi," I smiled falsely, trying to make her laugh. I managed a weak smile to appear on her thin lips. "Now seriously, tell me what's up."

She was suddenly very hostile and defensive, her arms crossed over her chest as if shielding herself from me and her nose pointed in that opposite direction, a frown replacing the small progress I had started to make. "How can I tell someone who can't even tell others what's bothering him?"

The remark not only stung, but reminded me of Haou's watching eyes. My thoughts slipped away from my grasp like soap and I felt myself floundering once more in the dangerous tide, searching for another line to be cast out and save me. Slowly... I started to go under, my strength leaving me and I could see those golden eyes every which way I tried to turn, staring.

Hunting.

Dangerous.

Death.

I could hear their screams now, the screams that haunted me in my dreams, the screams of my friends as they were tortured in those mirrors while I rotted away, doing nothing to ease their pain... staying immoblie in these chains that bound me...

"Oh!" Atticus announced loudly to break up the little disaster waiting to happen. The chains released me. We both jumped, having forgotten his presence temporarily, and I threw out an arm, wrapping it securely around the small piece of driftwood he had offered to keep my from drowning. "I forgot to tell you Lexi! The reason's J-man's been so freaked out lately is because he is finally starting to grow up! He's having certain dreams with you and our other Obelisk female friend, and it's got him freaked out!"

Her shock was written all over her face in the form of a vividly red blush and widened hazel eyes. Slowly, she turned to me as if stunned, and then she looked unsure if she should be flattered or disgusted for some reason. "Jaden... is that true?"

"Yeah," I said with a shrug, going for casualness to try and hide my slipping fingers. "I didn't really know how to tell you that though, so sorry for making you worry! I can tell you about them now if you want!"

For some reason she didn't like this.

WHACK!!

I went down to my knees, clutching the back of my head and letting out a surprised gasp of pain, my grip lost.

"YOU! I THOUGHT—HOW? ATTICUS! You told him to say that didn't you!"

Screaming again, and I heard _him_ chuckle... and now I knew why he sounded some familair, because he sounded like _me._

Atticus, who had been quietly cracking up off to the left, looked up in fear. "What—no! I had nothing to do with this! DON'T HURT ME!!"

"Liar!" she shouted, and then proceeded to pound him to the ground until he was begging for mercy.

Then, my... _his_... voice finally addressed me and I fell under, unable to fight any longer.

**_You searched for me, but in the form of another being, earlier. You can only find me when you search for yourself within your mind. And why, you fool? For I am you, and you are me. _**

_S-Stop..._

**_Accept that you and I are one, and that you are not just a simpleton with a lucky draw that can save worlds. Your strength is different. Accept it, or perish from your ignorance. _**

_Shut up! Go away! Leave me alone!_

**_We are the same person, that would be impossible. I have always been here._**

_No! You're lying! You were never there before!_

**_But I was and am and will always be. You may be able to change destiny, Jaden, but in the end you can still not escape it._**

I huddled as far away as I mentally could from him, not wanting to hear what he was saying, not willing to accept it as truth. There was a pause, and then the darkness left me to tremble in his own world.

Alexis was done pummeling the unjustly accused and she rounded on me causing me to flinch, still holding my head, and she faltered ever so slightly in her rampage, a stricken expression appearing upon her flawless face. "I'm sorry Jaden, I shouldn't have hit you, it wasn't your fault that my brother said that to you."

"What? Now wait a second Lexi, he didn't—"

"Don't lie to me Jay," she said, smiling softly and then walking in the other direction slowly. Confused, I turned back to the whining party host and shrugged, heading in the general direction of where we had been going, hoping to stumble onto the rooms so I could be alone.

The wanderings of my feet also seemed to allow my mind to wander and I found myself circling around and around the golden eyes in which I had seen on myself, trying to find something to challenge the thoughts that Haou had told me in a dizzing panic of questions. How was that even possible? I could speak with him and he could speak with me, and how can I really talk to myself that in depth? Having a conversation with myself in the literal sense is apparently possible, but what does that mean? How is any of this possible?

And my fear was slowly emerging out of the darkened corner that I had thrust it into in my haste to hide my horror to protect my friends, wild and tormenting with all of the nightmares of death and pain in which I had witnessed whilst twiddling away under the watch of those eyes...

I managed to stumble onto a few rooms, and I found one that had my name on it (Atticus had never been subtle with his plans) and walked in, seeing the mirror a second too late.

Golden eyes.

I couldn't even close my door I was so startled, I could only stare at myself—and yet not myself at all—in the reflective surface. I tried to form words to accompany this complete sense of dread that was washing over me, but it was impossible to do with my limited vocabulary and jumbled up thoughts. So instead I left the door open and sat down on the small bench someone had shoved into my room and stared blankly into the not my face as if Haou in the other universe behind the mirror would answer my questions.

I did not know for how long I sat there, staring blankly into oblivion and into the eyes of what I perceived to be the very devil itself, but refused to acknowledged for that would make me a demon as well, for my thoughts had come to a grinding halt of stunned silence as I simply stared at the liquid precious metal staring back at me with an almost disdainful expression. My breathes were slowing, for they came out in front of me in small crystallized puffs as if someone had turned off the heater, and then my eyelids started to droop, something in my body finally deciding that it had gone through enough torture for one day and was demanding a reprieve from the outside world.

But my dreams seemed to be all the more dangerous, no matter how normal they seemed to be. They all had the same end—my friends ending up hurt somehow, just towards the very end of the pain, even if it is only a glimpse of a tortured face. But all the same I was human, and I could not resist the lull and gentle forgetfulness brought on by the escape into the other, darker world, and I allowed myself to gently drift towards the edges of sleep, hoping for all the world that when I woke up, there would be no one staring out at me other than my true self.

But I had a strange feeling that I had no idea who my true self was. Not anymore.

* * *

**(Alexis POV)**

"Stupid brother..." I muttered as I roamed around the back of the performance area, trying to drown out the wails of students singing or screeching into the just as loud and annoyingly present audience. "Getting Jaden to say that... poor Jay, he had no idea what Atticus had been talking about, he looked so confused when I hit him... wait. I'm talking to myself! Great!"

I came back into myself with a loud huff, irritated by generally everything right now. As much as I felt badly for hitting my Slifer friend for something that he obviously had no idea about, I couldn't quite make myself take it back. It had felt good to be able to smack him, to vent off this anger that he had suddenly instilled me with, all with a simple touch of her hand.

It had said it all.

* * *

(Flashback)

"Atticus, where are you taking us?" Jaden wondered, still being pushed forward by my bouncy brother, and the brunette stumbled slightly as the Obelisk student pushed him a bit harder unintentionally, striking a dramatic position with his next reply.

"To your dressing rooms!"

Oh great.

"Dressing rooms?" I parroted, thumping him between the shoulder blades so he'd stop pushing Jaden. My friend stumbled a bit at the sudden lack of pressure and then started walking again at his own pace. "Atticus, do I have to tell our parent's what you're doing here?"

"Ouch Lexi!" he whined in response, attempting to rub the spot where I had hit him but failing miserably. Then he shifted topics with a casual glance around to avoid getting into more trouble. "That new girl Artemis was supposed to come and help you out Driana... but I don't see her anywhere..."

I frowned at the strange tone in my brother's voice, normally he would be happy to see any other girl near him, go into his 'Master of Love' mode and try and impress them, which worked in the end simply because many of the girls here were obsessed fan-girls with the attention span of gnats. Jaden suddenly slowed his steps with a slight hesitation, and I noticed that he used that so that my brother walked past him and he could get a good look at his troubled face without calling attention to the fact, which surprised me.

I didn't take Jaden to be the type who would be able to be discrete in any way at all. After all there was obviously something that was wrong with him but as much as he seems to want to avoid the subject, his face is constantly revealing the fact that he is distressed about something, but the thing is he's gotten pretty darn good at hiding what that thing is.

He definitely noticed that something was wrong with my brother, and sort of dim light appeared in his muddled and confused brown eyes, but then he dismissed it with a sharp jerk of his head in the opposite direction just as two students walked passed awkwardly, carrying a broken mirror. I tried to catch a glimpse of his face but the angle between us was wrong, just like everything else it seemed. I was still stinging from watching his silent displeasure of Jesse and Driana's closeness, and I was worried about him to no end.

There had to be another problem to the equation, jealousy didn't create something like this dark cloud filled thick with misery that was constantly hanging over his head. Although it did seem to disappear when he faced off against Jesse Anderson...

What was he hiding that these two new additions to our groups seemed to be able to cure that I, someone who had been there for him for nearly three years, could not? Did he not trust me like he trusted them?

Jaden, what's wrong with you?

"Yo!"

We all turned and the sound of the greeting and Artemis Ryoku came swaying up to us, slinging her right arm through Driana's easily and smiling as if in triumph at Atticus. I frowned, already not liking this new girl one bit. She seemed like she was a darker version of Atticus the way that she walked and her little entrance into Duel Academy, she seemed like she would do anything to get what she wanted, unlike my brother who would only stop when it would hurt others. This girl gave me the impression of a lioness, that she would tear through anyone in her way to get to her goal, and that she enjoyed breaking hearts.

My brother seemed to sense something similar of sorts about his girl, for he bit his lip, but said nothing, looking confused and... flustered?

Was he impressed by the way she carried herself, by the way she made others turn heads?

"Come on honey, I'm your manager for the night. We'll bring the house to its knees when we're finished," Artemis said in a rather sultry voice, her gaze flickering over to Atticus again and grinning sharply, her teeth practically gleaming in perfection. I scowled, but Driana seemed oblivious to the danger, just like the distracted Jaden next to me.

"If you say so!" Driana responded brightly, but then she turned to Jaden, all smiles, and held out her hand in a shake. "Let's promise to do our best and make it a great show for all of our friends!"

I scowled angrily at the girl, envy flowing through my mind, destroying the gentle zephyr that usually prevailed and replacing it with a hurricane. She was so like Jaden on every level, energetic, bubbly, an all around angel, so it was no wonder that Jaden seemed to have let his guard down around her. And that Jesse Anderson was almost a clone of him, so was that it? Did he think we were inferior compared to them because they were all so alike? Was I just an abnormality in his perfect little world?

I shook away those thoughts, not only because I knew they were untrue, but because they were damaging my emotions more than they should have. The thought of his rejection crushed me, and because of that I felt defeated. I did not need any other person's opinion to define and support my own life. I was supposed to be Ms. Independent, the one girl in the entire Blue Dorm who did not jump at the chance to fall in this supposed 'love' or date or even allow myself to have feelings for another. I didn't need a man by my side to make me strong. I didn't care that everyone thought it strange that I did not date. I could stand up on my own if needed. Rejection by anyone should not make me feel the way it is.

Especially not by Jaden.

"Yeah!" he smiled back, and he blocked his almost panicked expression from view as he put his hand in hers and shook it firmly. She laughed loudly and smiled pleasantly at him, and something in the air between them seemed to change as well, for Jaden's face suddenly was wiped blank as a white board; his eyes suddenly blazing with a torture that seemed to eat him from the inside out, consuming his every muscle and vein as I discretely watched.

Pain.

I noticed that his veins around his neck seemed to be popping out, but his long hair was obscuring my view just enough to prevent me from being certain. Certainty could only be placed on one vein in particular as it knocked against his tanned skin quickly, rising in velocity with every passing millisecond.

Faster.

Driana didn't seem to notice anything, and neither did Atticus for he was watched Artemis watch her nails with disinterest with an intensity that should have had her dead and in the grave long seconds ago. The raven-haired teen turned around and did the same thing for me, making me only grow more anxious because I could focus more on Jaden, who was staring without seeing at the spot where she had been standing only moments in time ago, and his expression was shocked, as if he had just had some kind of a deep realization and that realization was causing him pain—or even that he was lacking the realization and had simply found the correct question he needed to ask to throw himself into chaos.

I was very away of that vein. It was growing more and more distressed in its terrifying self-punishment as it worked itself to death. I was just about to voice my own distress when it just stopped suddenly, and my own heart clenched, fearing that his had stopped. But then I picked it up, a faint little motion now as if it had finally worn itself out and was simply recovering.

My eyes shifted back up to his while Artemis took Driana and spun her around, half-leading her away from us. They were calm, monotonous, peaceful... dead as he watched her go as well, then they filled with something that didn't belong on his face—utter and complete undying affection and devotion above all others for someone else.

My heart stopped beating for a few seconds as well.

How was this even possible—I didn't believe in teenage love—Jaden was the one who seemed to be trying to the most of his ability to prove my beliefs wrong? Jaden, the naïve and bubbly member of our circle of friends, the one that was the most ignorant to the world around him had figured out what love was?

It couldn't be a crush, that look would belong on his face, the little scarlet blush that should have been running across his cheek and the awkward laugh instead of his eyes showing what he was feeling at some deeper level. That kind of love did not belong on such a childish person's face, it seemed to just throw everything out of proportion—the most immature person that I knew with the exception of my brother having such a mature and complicated emotion gracing his complexion. It was just wrong.

But that look was what I had always thought of when I thought of love, and admittedly his eyes were the ones that I always pictured to hold them simply because Jaden always did everything with all of his heart, but that love was much different than this one. Jaden couldn't love her, because I...

I what?

Sadness swept over me now that the concern for his health had vanished, and I was startled by the depths of it. I wallowed in my sudden twist in mood, wondering briefly when Aunt Flo was due, and then accepted the fact that the thought of Jaden loving another girl was making me drown in depression and heartbreak that I had yet to experience in my short life—not a feminine curse.

Or was I distressed that someone else, especially one who I had thought ignorant, had figured out something that I could simply not accept? But why couldn't I accept it? That Jaden had just proved me wrong by showing love on his face?

I tried to think this all through, take it in, but I just couldn't focus on myself right now, because I knew that if I asked myself the obvious question that I would only be giving myself even more heartbre—pain. I won't even think that vile word, because that would only make me think that I... Jaden...

Did I...?

Could I...?

Unable to keep my tongue from voicing itself, I tried to go for the simplest question I had to ask instead of perhaps the most important one that lied somewhere deep within my chest and mind—my heart—my beliefs.

"You alright Jaden?"

Feeble, but it was all I could manage for some strange reason. I felt weak, useless, and above all like a doll that had been coveted for months by a young child and then returned to the shelf as soon as a new toy came into existence—replaced.

As I returned my thoughts outward again I noticed that he seemed fatigued and only half-aware of his surroundings, the epiphany of the ignorance that I had just reflected on. But this state seemed to be worse. He looked for all the world like he was on some kind of heavy pain medication by the way he yawned loudly and looked at me with a simpler version of the... love?... that he had just displayed.

Then he smiled at me, but his mind seemed to be very far away—or maybe not so far after all, just hanging around that of the raven-haired girl's. "Yeah, perfect Lexi!"

He was still using my nickname, but he no longer said it the way he had a week or so ago, or was I just imagining the lack of compassion for me behind the name that I only let him use?

I felt my teeth biting into my lip to prevent me from asking the question again, because I knew something was wrong, even though he seemed to be perfectly okay with it. I tried to look away from him, not wanting to see how relaxed and certain his face was or how he kept unconsciously flicking his eyes towards where he had seen her last.

What kind of emotion other than love could make Jaden Yuki do something like that? Could any artificial feeling make him fall into chaos and then rise again calm and collected?

I knew I was being obvious about my hurt and discomfort, and I knew that he would comment on it, that he had always commented on things like this. He would never let his own friends get away with beating themselves up mentally, and he wouldn't stop pestering until the problem was solved.

But he didn't ask.

My shield against the question that I had to ask myself was being stretched thin and wide, and continuing to stretch now that he seemed to not care about my ailment. I had a feeling that it would soon snap, and I would be left in chaos, but the solution would not give me the peace that Jaden held now.

There was a slightly awkward pause between all of us, and my brother finally spoke up. Even he seemed stunned and unsure at this new revelation, but he tried to immaturely force his way past the obvious and cling onto the relationship that he thought he could create between us.

"Come on you love birds!" Atticus voiced finally.

I almost felt sorry that I hadn't tried.

Almost, Jaden's heart obviously belonged to someone else, so I shouldn't feel sorry that I had stopped a false and hard bump that would have potentially ruined our friendship...

Jaden simply shrugged off the comment like it was the most ridiculous thing that he had ever heard and gazed vacantly off into the distant, a warm smile appearing on his lips and his eyes drooping.

"Atticus..."

It was all I could offer as a rebuke without letting everything that I felt I couldn't say out.

"Oh? So you admit it finally?" he pressed, starting to walk in the opposite direction that the transfer girl had taken Jaden's heart. I couldn't even look at them anymore, it hurt so much. So I settled with my shoes, which matched my feelings with such a cliché I almost laughed bitterly at the irony of it all. Blue was the color that defined sorrow.

Red was for compassion and love—Jaden's dorm of choice.

Then Jaden opened his mouth to finally comment on my brother's statement, and he said it with such a calm and mature tone that I thought I was going to snap, "Well I don't know if we—AHH!!"—but then comedy came to my rescue.

The illusion of love seemed to shatter from Jaden's crystalline mask when he tripped over one of the many cords that decorated the freezing confines of the hastily composed back-stage. He lay there, stunned, for a few thin seconds and then seemed to come back to himself in a panic powerful and strong, but he only muttered, "Ouch" shoving the fact that he was hiding his unease from me again.

Confusion laced its way into his face once more, and I knew that that emotion at least belonged there on his face, but really; it seemed so insignificant compared to that other thing. But I couldn't let him know that I knew, and that the information was hurting me for reasons that I stretched my defenses out to refuse acknowledgement. I was going to support him, because that was what friend did, and it seemed that was all we could ever be...

Not that I minded.

"Jaden! You're such a klutz!" I said in an attempt to sound normal, but it came out too enthusiastic. I had never needed to become an actress for normal feelings, and sealing him out into my colder mask would only confirm that I was hurting. I would have to learn to act then, just as he had.

He started to push himself up then, and I could feel his eyes on me several different times, and then the concern finally made itself apparent in his voice, mirroring what I had been asking him only moments before.

"What's up Lexi?"

I jumped. How could he not know what was wrong? It was glaringly obvious even if I refused to admit it to save both of us pain. "Umm, nothing Jaden, I'm just worried that this big idiot over here is going to make a fool of us."

Feeble again. I thought I was stronger than this, but why was everything coming out so weak and helpless like the damsel in distress I never wanted to be?

"Hey! I'm used to being the fool already! It's not that bad Lexi," he smiled at me, warm like the sun's rays on a cool day, trying to melt through the thoughts that I had frozen. I managed a weak smile and he grinned even harder as if he had just been given a chance to duel against his idol. Then his eyes regained some level of maturity—seriousness and concern. "Now seriously, tell me what's up."

I couldn't take it anymore, I didn't want to dwell on this, and I didn't want him pushing me when my own pushing had only gotten him to snap at me and then almost tell me that he lo—

Stop it!

"How can I tell someone who can't even tell others what's bothering him?" It came out harsher than I meant it to, or maybe I did want to say it that way. Everything was just so mixed up and bubbling over that I couldn't tell up from down. He recoiled slightly, his eyes acknowledging that I was angry and that he had been wrong. That only made me angrier for reasons that I couldn't voice.

"Oh!" Atticus announced loudly to break up the little disaster waiting to happen. We both jumped, having forgotten his presence temporarily. "I forgot to tell you Lexi! The reason's J-man's been so freaked out lately is because he is finally starting to grow up! He's having certain dreams with you and our other Obelisk female friend, and it's got him freaked out!"

...What? Jaden? But...

Wait, he had one of those... with me?

Unsure of what to say or do, I just stood there, staring at him. Some parts of my shield started to wear thin, small tears allowing some thoughts that I'd rather keep in the dark appear, forcing me to admit things I'd rather kept unsaid.

I liked the fact that he recognized that I was a woman and not just another one of his guy friends...

But... to say something like that... and so casually... and he had them about Driana as well...

"Jaden... is that true?"

"Yeah." He didn't seem to think anything of it at all, like it was just some kind of a fluke or something, or just something that was bound to happen because he only had three female friends, one of which was only just turning eleven years old. "I didn't really know how to tell you that though, so sorry for making you worry! I can tell you about them now if you want!"

WHACK!!

It was an instant reaction to his statement, and it was satisfying to feel my hand collide with his hard skull, and then to watch as he went down in surprise, the breath leaving him. How could he say that?! Did he even know what he was talking about?!

"YOU! I THOUGHT—HOW?" I hollered, appalled by his words. Then I made a connection as Atticus started to chuckle off to the side. That little... "ATTICUS! You told him to say that didn't you!"

A look of fear entered his eyes and I felt a dark streak of enjoyment course through me. "What—no! I had nothing to do with this! DON'T HURT ME!!"

"Liar!" I shouted, and then I proceeded to pound him to the ground until he was begging for mercy. How could he take advantage of Jaden's innocence like that?!

And then I had to punch down the sadness that started to bleed from my heart at the fact that it was hopeless, Jaden was still lying to us all if he had no idea what Atticus had been hinting at, and that he did not think of my romantically at all, which DIDN'T bother me, but the fact that he just thought I was another one of his male friends.

The hurt boiled over, and I knew I would have to admit it to myself some time this night before I exploded, but now wasn't the time. Instead I whirled back to my original target, intending only to help him up, but my face must still have been angered, for he flinched sharply, clutching his head. I came to a crashing halt at the sight. I had never meant to hurt him, he was the only one that I didn't feel the need to hit every once in a while. I sighed, "I'm sorry Jaden, I shouldn't have hit you, it wasn't your fault that my brother said that to you."

He tried to defend his friend as he stood back up, his eyes locking with mine, but I didn't let him continue to get caught up in this mess even more than he was.

"Don't lie to me Jay."

And then I walked off.

(END FLASHBACK)

* * *

I came to a halt when I noticed that I had walked around in a complete circle whilst I had been down the painful memory lane. In front of me was Atticus, waving his hands around to students from the sewing club who were taking several different outfits out of large boxes that had obviously been hand-made some days prior.

Sighing, I snuck past him and towards the area where I hoped our little rooms were so I could compose myself enough to survive the night without revealing what I refused to acknowledge to all of Duel Academy. I had no place to feel this way, not with how Jaden feels for Driana. I would only be hurting our friendship if I told him I had feelings that he couldn't return.

I rubbed the goose-bumps on my arms and noticed that my breath was starting to show in the air. Stunned, I halted and walked back in the frigid air to Atticus, wanting to know what was up with the cool air.

"Lexi!" he smiled when he saw me, waving energetically and nearly knocking over the pile of clothing being arranged and hung up on a rack. "You're back!"

He made a dramatic attempt to hug me, and I let him simply because of how cold it was in here for someone in an annoying mini-skirt and sleeveless shirt. "Why is it so cold back here?"

"Oh! I accidently broke the heating and cooling in the gym when I was trying to fix the lights!" he announced.

"Why were you trying to fix the lights?" I shuddered, pacing from foot to foot, secretly thankful that the cold was stealing away any of the thoughts that attempted to block up my mind again.

"Because Bastion was still working on the karaoke machine of course! And I didn't know what those wires were for anyway... besides we'll be kicked out of here by DA discipline squad before the cold does any real damage to all those sweaty peeps out there!"

"What about back here?" I demanded, rubbing my knees together to get warm.

"You'll be fine once you change into your outfits and then throw on a coat!" he grinned, and then he was swept away to deal with some other party dilemma. I was left, shivering, in that small little area while I saw him jump down from the stage and pat the Obelisk standing guard on the back before he walked off, now carrying a bunch of water bottles with some other person.

Deciding that walking would be warmer, I tried to find the dressing rooms again, cursing myself under my breath for not asking. A few minutes later I happened upon them, thanking whoever was watching that the backstage area was relatively small, and then I noticed that Jaden's door was open. Curious against my better judgment, I peeked in the room.

I first noticed a full-view mirror directly across from the door and allowed a weak smile to tug at the corners of my lips at Atticus' seeming obsession with mirrors. In that piece of vanity I searched briefly for Jaden only to find him asleep on a small bench to my left that had been placed in the tiny excuse for a dressing room. He was shivering lightly, his eyes squeezed shut tightly.

A strong pang broke through my walls and shook my defenses as I watched him, processing the exhaustion that he was finally showing. The poor boy's expression was still tensed, even as he slept. That wasn't the Jaden I knew at all. That wasn't the Jaden that I li...

He trembled again in his sad attempt to get a promising sleep, either from the cold or his own thoughts, I wasn't ever to know. But shouldn't I try to find something to warm him up at least? He'd do that for me...

I bit my lip, undecided. Driana's door a few down was already firmly closed and I could hear low voices chattering in it, so obviously Artemis was already trying to force the innocent Obelisk into something inappropriate. No one else was around... so what could it hurt?

I walked inside his room and closed the door behind me, sitting down next to him and just watching his as he slept. He turned his head to the side and his fingers twitched before curling into weak fists, a small whimper escaping from his lips. Frowning now, I scooted closer to him, intending to keep us both warmer if nothing else. His body tensed and I feared that I had just done the impossible and woken up a slumbering Jaden Yuki, but then he relaxed again and his head lolled slightly, his eye moving rapidly behind his lids.

Dreaming then?

Unbidden images aroused themselves into my head before I pushed them aside. Unable to help it any longer, I put one of my arms around him and pulled the slumbering boy into a gentle hug, whispering into his ear, "Jaden, what's wrong with you? I only want to help you... why won't you tell me anything?"

All he did was snuggle up closer to his new source of warmth in response and sigh into my hair contentedly. Now trapped, I scowled at myself for thinking that just because he didn't wake up didn't mean he wouldn't move. But his embrace and acceptance was calming and alluring, and I found myself burrowing into his hair as well with a sigh.

Maybe now... in this moment I could say it and be rid of it...

Jaden muttered something in his sleep and moved closer to me, his limp fist suddenly uncurling and finding my fingers to squeeze instead. Yes, this would just be so much easier... to imagine that he was awake and holding my hand... saying things into my ear... me holding him...

"Jaden... there's something that I have to say, even though you can't hear it..."

He sighed again, sending his warm breath scolding across my ear and neck. I tried to smile, but instead a few flecks of moisture escaped my eyes. I wiped them off using my hand closest to my face before continuing, telling myself that I wouldn't break.

"I know that you really like... maybe even love... Driana... but I have to say this before I can't hold it in anymore..."

I took a deep breath, finally allowing my shield to clutter to the ground and shatter, allowing all of my displeasure and anger towards the young girl that I had felt to fester in the form of jealousy that I didn't want to admit to, all the moments where Jaden had smiled at me or stood in the face of death to protect me congeal in the crush that I had developed for him.

"I really like you Jaden..."

There, I said it... But my mouth kept moving.

"I can't say love, because I don't know what it is, as much as I hate to admit it... I wish that I had what you felt for Driana, because them maybe..."

A smile appeared on your lips, I could feel it as they brushed past my hair. I composed myself again and finished what I had refused to say for what felt like eternity. "Because then maybe you'd love me instead..."

He was still after that, simply breathing easily in and out in my warm arms, and I allowed myself to breath as well. It was over, I had said it. And I still had my own sense of sanity left in me. I could deal with this. I would be happy for Jaden and Driana... because I knew this boy that I was cherishing at this very moment deserved to be happy over everyone else here, including myself.

He was the hero, and he needed his happily ever after, as cliché as it might be. And if that means I have to be on the sidelines while he chooses his fair maiden to save, then so be it. His happiness is what matters... it's all that matters...

And I continued to repeat those words, for maybe if I keep telling myself that, I'd believe it.

* * *

**I'm sure you've noticed that season three Asuka/Alexis is really weak and doesn't duel at all, so I'm trying to plant the seeds that will start with her umm... un-character development. **

**I think I'm overdoing it a bit, and I would appreciate any advice that you guys have. **

**And this continues on to be WAY longer than I expected, but I'm pretty confindent that it will only last one more chapter!**

**smiles**

**Please don't kill me?**

**_Then _Without You will be written and updated ASAP!**

* * *

****

Part 3


	12. Transfer Part 5

**Hehehehe... Sorry guys, but if I had added on Jaden/Driana/Alexis' performances, then the chapter would be too long. So the conclusion of "Transfer" will be up by the end of the week if I don't run into any projects or anything from school.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY SONGS USED IN THIS OR YUGIOH GX. I DO OWN THE PLOT AND MY OCS.**

* * *

**Chapter 8 PART 4**

**(Alexis POV)**

Every so often the friend that my arms protected would mutter meaningless words into my hair as if he was having a conversation with one of his duel spirits. For all I know that could very well be true, because I knew that there had to be some kind of explanation for so many people randomly talking (or punching in Chazz's case) to thin air. But the thing was, just because I knew doesn't mean that I believed in it.

Just like... this _love_ that has just bitten deep into my mind and infected it. How could _Jaden_ love? It just seemed so unlikely...

But I had witnessed it in that brief moment in his eyes, so I knew.

So why couldn't I believe?

... Was it because in order to believe that Jaden loved, loved another, that I would be accepting the fact that he cannot return my feelings? Was some part of my mind shrinking from the pain that would come from that acceptance?

... But I was already in pain, so how much worse can it get?

It was the flash of a camera that swayed me from the path my thoughts were following. Taking care not to disturb the sleeping Jaden that I held, I craned my neck to the side so that I could glare through the mirror at my brother wielding a digital camera. I didn't even want to know where or how he got it. All I wanted to do was chase him until he coughed up the picture that he had just taken.

As if he sensed my thoughts, Jaden's grip on me became tighter and he muttered something incoherent in my ear as if saying "Don't go". I increased my glare ten-fold at the alternate-realm Atticus, who was grinning ear to ear as if he had just discovered his birthday was coming twice this year.

"I knew it!" he shouted triumphantly, his breath coming out in little puffs of mist. "And now I proof! You LOOOOOOVVVVVVVEE Jaden!"

Jaden stirred sleepily in my arms at the loud noise, but then simply curled closer to me and sighed in a rather content fashion.

"Atticus!" I snapped, careful to keep my voice at normal levels so Jaden wouldn't wake up. "Keep your voice down! I don't love him, got it?!"

Said brunette made a strange noise, almost like a scoff, as if even in his sleep he knew I was lying. Atticus just grinned from ear to ear like a little Christmas elf.

"Lexi found her man! YES!!" he trilled, spinning around in place, announcing it to the whole world.

"ATTICUS! Shut-up!" I snarled, my eyes darting towards the direction of Driana's dressing room. "I don't love him and he doesn't love me. Not the way you think anyway."

"Oh don't say that dearest sister!" he smirked, walking over to us and ruffling my hair. "I am the Master of Love! I knew you would win out in the end!"

"He doesn't love me Atticus!" I barked, done with even trying to sound happy. "He loves Driana! I lost alright!"

He fell silent, staring at the hurt in my eyes for a few seconds, his grin sliding off his face at the speed of maple syrup. "Alexis..." he said, voice trailing off as I forced myself to look in another direction. A few minutes of quiet, save for Jaden's steady breathing, followed, where Atticus seemed to be pondering his answer. I didn't need to look at him to know that he was smiling again. "It's not over until the fat lady sings Lexi! And that means that anything can happen tonight! Just tell him how you feel! It's Jaden sissy! He won't hate you for it!"

"No, but I'll hate myself for getting in the way of what he deserves."

"What Jaden deserves is you Lexi!" Atticus cheered. "There's always been a spark between you and him! Admit it!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "I've always liked him Atticus, and he's always liked me. But I didn't start... _liking_... him until... well..."

"Aha!" Atticus grinned. Jaden's lips tugged themselves into a frown and his right hand twitched slightly. He was waking up. Great.

How was I going to explain why he was in my arms?

* * *

**(Jaden POV)**

Cold.

My eyes opened, but for all that I saw they could have still been closed. Darkness toiled around me as expected, taunting my sanity with its careless flow towards eternity. Biting my lip, I pivoted my head around to see behind me into the chasm where mirrors that could not reflect me resided. Sure enough, there they were, hanging above and below me, defying space and logic.

I waited, unsure of what else to do.

I did not have to wait long before he emerged from the shadows and stood before me, the same white-board expression on his face. We simply looked at each other for the longest time, he waiting for me to acknowledge our shared existence and me waiting for him to deny it.

But I was stubborn, so no words were exchanged.

Finally, "Who are you?"

He raised an eyebrow, the only display of emotion I was likely to get out of him, and stayed silent, unsatisfied. Those eyes...

I resisted the urge to look away from them, because I knew if I broke contact then I would most likely never look at them again. And I needed to see them if I wanted answers. "Why didn't I know about you before?"

He held his gaze, blinking freely, as his lips moved, almost as if he was trying to stare me down. But if he was really me, then he should know that I was already beyond fear. "If I knew then so would you."

"Can't you give me a real answer?" I tried to snap, but it came out more like a plea. I had to know everything I could if I was going to protect my friends. There had to be some way to get rid of this thing. I didn't want to leave them behind...

"You already know the answers," Haou replied levelly, a hint of a sardonic grin shadowing his frowning lips.

A shiver ran down the length of my spine and I felt a lazy tentacle from the darkness brush against my leg. My hair stood on end.

"Why would I be asking you if I knew them?" I responded, trying to keep my voice from shaking, even though the rest of me already was.

"You are asking yourself these questions, so only you know the answer."

A silence descended upon us after those words, neither side offering any more means of communication other than our thoughts.

I knew the answers?

Frowning to myself, at myself, and for myself, I finally turned in the opposite direction of those eyes, pondering over everything, trying to find something that I had missed, because apparently Haou wasn't going to help me.

Why hadn't I ever talked to Haou before if he was a part of me? Why did he just randomly appear? What about my reflections—what was that about? Am I dangerous?

A small chuckle echoed around the endless pit I had drowned into and my muscles tensed, alarmed by such a sound. A cold hand gripped onto my shoulder, intimidating, and then he finally answered.

"We are, and so is every other living creature. It is our very existence, or rather, our struggle for survival. We are all designed to have some advantage over another creature, and we all exploit it given the chance. Danger is a part of every person's soul Jaden; you've recognized that many a time."

"But so is kindness," I managed to say, although my teeth would barely unclench from where they stood. His grip tightened for a mere second and I flinched before his touch slipped away and he walked so that he was in front of me, staring into my eyes once more.

"You know this is not necessarily true, you recognize it because I do. I did not just appear on whim, and you know this as well. You've always drawn on me in times of desperation, when you would have been too weak to carry on otherwise. You've always been aware that you're different from all of your friends—that your strength carried on much further than any of them could withstand. But you've never wondered why. And why is that Jaden?"

His words nailed into me like a load of bricks and I felt my knees buckle before I hit the freezing floor. I looked up at my mirror image and realized that I was bowing before him, reason, maturity, malice, but I couldn't deny him any longer. "I didn't ask because... I already knew the answer," I whispered.

But Haou wasn't done torturing me yet. "And that answer is?"

I looked towards his feet instead of his face, my hands shaking worse than anything else at this moment. "I knew that I had power... And I knew that there was something that was blocking me from seeing it most of the time. But I didn't worry about it, because it scared me to think that I..."

"...had so much more power than anyone else, and you couldn't help but wonder why."

"I thought it was so that I could protect those close to me after I came here. I thought I found the reason," I replied, closing my eyes against the truth. "So I didn't worry about it anymore. Isn't that what this... power is for?"

"What about our second year?" Haou said instead, forcing me to look into his eyes with a jerk of his hand. Disjointed images came flying to my mind, the mirrors reflecting them as they came.

Aster Phoenix.

Losing my ability to see spirits. Leaving Duel Academy—space. The rush of power I felt running through my fingers when I overcame the block that prevented me from seeing my cards, then the quick cut-off of it when the enemy had been defeated.

A deeper hidden urge, some part of me that hated the Society of Light for reasons I didn't understand. Talk of destiny irritating me more than usual. White Chazz. White Bastion. White Alexis...

The future that was predicted for me...

A strange desert and a looming darkness, ready to crush me at a moment's notice.

When I had been struck by Arcane Force—how I had been forced back into my mind, retreating against its touch as if it burned me. I had been drifting, unable to move, only able to think, but barely able to form any coherent thoughts.

The Neospacions—they said they had been searching for the person with the correct form of darkness to stand up against the light. Correct darkness?

But I had never asked myself... it seemed unimportant...

"What did all of it mean?" I whispered, but this answer was far out of my grasp.

Haou's hand released my chin and he walked a distance away from me, watching a mirror that showed my duel against White Alexis. She was gone in this image, the old Alexis shoved away by the light. We were quiet, each pondering over the other's thoughts until I defeated Alexis and she fell to the stadium floor, free.

Suddenly, another question popped into my head. "Why could I bring her back? The others broke free on their own; she didn't even want to try."

Haou simply nodded, showing that he heard me. Then, "You believe that humans are made of darkness and light." I nodded, though it was not a question. I believed, so he knew. "So where is our light Jaden? Or better yet—why does the light hurt us instead of taking us over?"

Startled by this sudden question, I stuttered, "I-I don't..." Why? Why was this happening? Why now? If this was so connected to my second year why hadn't I figured out the answers then? What was going on? And why, when I lost to Aster, didn't I enter into the society? Could it be...?

"Could it be that we cannot be swayed by the light?"

But... how was that possible? Every human had darkness and light in them, so they could be swayed one way or another. If what he says is true... am I even human? Or am I something different? But what—it's not like I have a tailfin or wings or anything to distinguish with. But how can I not be human?! I know I am—my medical records definitely say I am... but...

I'm human... so...

"Why would that be?"

"Haou... I don't... know..." I managed to say, curling myself into a ball to avoid all of the weight that was being forced on me. I didn't know what was going on anymore. I didn't want to know what was going on. I just wanted things to go back to normal. I just wanted to be with my friends again—the friends that I've known for most of my time here. I don't want to have feelings for someone, especially not for two people at once.

I don't want to figure out who I am if that means I have to loose them in the process. I don't want to be dangerous; I don't want any part of me to be evil. I don't want to risk my friends' well-being by staying near them if I'm really...

But I had to know for those same reasons. I don't want to hurt my friends above all, so I had to be strong for them.

His answer was simple and blunt.

"Then figure it out."

After that he vanished again, back to the place that he had been before, residing among the demons of my thoughts, leaving me to drown in all that had been forced on me. It was cold, and I continued to shiver, searching for answers that I didn't have. Maybe if I could focus on just one instead of them all as a whole I'd get somewhere... but what? There are so many questions...

Simple. Start out simple.

"Do I love Driana?" I voiced it, testing out her name and the painful word together. It echoed through the mirrored chamber and her face appeared on a few of them, distorted in some kind of pain. I shook my head, not looking at the illusions any longer.

I felt weird around her. I did not like her and Jesse that close. I did not like seeing her hurt during Zane's duel. Frowning, I tried saying it again, as definite as I could, to see what happened.

"I love Driana Danchou."

I waited, expecting some kind of a rush of feelings or epiphany or something, but nothing happened. It was like... there really was nothing between us at all. Like I didn't...

"I don't," I realized, putting my head in my hands. And it was true. I did not love her the way that she loved me... but could I? In some point in the future, would I be able to return her feelings? The answer was just barely there, but I knew it to be true when I grasped it. I could learn to love her. But I wasn't willing to try. Not now, maybe not ever.

It was just too alien to me still, too strange a concept to grasp. And those little fits that I had... they confused me too much. What if I had not snapped out of it a few minutes—hours?—days?—ago? What would I have done?

Then what about Alexis? I had plenty of moments with her before I met Driana, did I feel the same about her? I sighed, sinking down further into the surf, allowing it to run over my head and suffocate me in its icy grip. I floundered there for a few moments, thinking over her, before deciding that I didn't love her either. But it took me longer than I liked to come to that conclusion, and I was still unsure on the matter.

I had known her longer, and things had always been simple between us... or at least before this year. Now we were strained every time we came near each other and likely to snap like a rubber band pulled too far back.

But it had been strange from the start with Driana. I did enjoy talking to her, but she had always seemed conflicted when she opened her mouth, no matter how she good her mask was. So how could she know if she was in love with me if she had only known me for a little while?

I sighed, deciding that this wasn't the simplest question after all. So I tried another angle at it.

"Do I... erm... have a _crush_ on Alexis?"

The mirrors responded to her name and then her face filled up their panels, ranging from our first year to now. I still remember the way it felt when she touched me, like she was the source of all warmth, like there was a fire that was in her that couldn't be extinguished. And towards the beginning of this year I thought she was beautiful—I still thought that, because she just was.

But that shouldn't mean anything, looks aren't supposed to matter with love... right?

But when I thought of Driana a different word came to mind—pretty. But what was the difference?

I shut the thoughts of Driana with the questions that Haou had left me with and focused on Alexis, willing myself to find one stinking answer before I was swept away by the current, never to be seen again.

I decided.

Yes.

"And do I have a crush on Driana?"

...

It was then that I noticed it was...

Warm?

It was as if someone had thrown me a rope and dove after me once I had fallen under the surface, and they were offering a way out. I turned towards the darkness once again, feeling my skin crawl, and I accepted whoever was trying to help me. This person accepted me with open arms, stroking my hair with an absent finger.

And they were a source of warmth that drove away the cold of darkness, so I instinctively clung to my savior, grateful and wary all in one. How did whoever this was know I was in trouble in the first place? How did they know how to get me out?

Then he or she started talking, but I couldn't understand what they were saying in my half-sleep. I only understood that I was very tired and it seemed like this person was finally granting me my wish for a Haou-less nap. So I surrendered to their warm embrace, feeling, for all the world, safe.

For a few minutes it was peaceful, the other person's chin on my head, his or her hair tickling my nose slightly, the feeling of being in front of a fireplace tingling in my toes, and then a flash went off, followed by a rather loud noise. It aroused some worries about the Light from the darker part of my mind, but I fought against them by curling closer to the person next to me, refusing to give up the relaxation that I was long overdue for.

A few more words were exchanged and then the person tensed as if they were going to leave.

Don't... I complained mentally, holding them fast. They hesitated and then surrendered into my grip again, but the muscles against my cheek were still tensed, ready to lash out. Were we in danger? But that couldn't be, it felt too safe and warm for there to be any danger...

Hair was tickling my nose again, more unpleasantly this time, and I made a small noise through my nose and mouth, hoping to blow it off without breaking the peace around me. It worked.

Then it was quiet again and I allowed a smile. I wished that it could always be a simple as the feeling I was getting from this situation right now, then maybe I wouldn't be in this whole messy... thing. No conflicting feelings, no worry about who or what I am... no nothing.

Then the voice picked up again and another person's pitch went a bit too high for me to ignore. Frowning at the disturbance, I allowed myself to wake up completely, tired of trying to fight. And as soon as I opened my eyes and looked up at my savior, things became very complicated once again.

"Alexis?"

* * *

..................

**(Driana and Artemis)**

"Nice job," Artemis complimented her apprentice with a pat on her head. "If that boy's not drooling over you by the end of tonight... well let's just say I'd be stunned."

"Let's just hope no one shocks him out of it..." she muttered in response, blue eyes darting around, searching for the presence of their rival. A few students milled about here and there, staring at Artemis for the most part, before going back to work. "You might want to tone it down Artemis," Driana added as an afterthought. "You're already making people suspicious."

A sharp glance was sent in response.

"Right... sorry," Driana muttered, avoiding her gaze. "Well... why don't you target Drake for a while? People will expect it since you came from the same school and he'll be able to take it better than these kids."

Artemis rolled her eyes in response. "I get bored of him after a while of course. I'm tired of having him want me all the time. But it never gets boring with new meat. They can entertain me for quite a while, child."

As if demonstrating her point, she winked at a student lifting up a new punch bowl and then laughed as he dropped it all over himself in surprise. "If you say so..."

They eventually wandered into the little hallway made for their dressing rooms just as a few students delivered the outfits that had been made a few days... weeks... who cares?... prior.

"Thanks!" Driana cheered, nearly forgetting her cover as she felt Jaden's heart-rate suddenly jump up and then level out. Cursing under her breath she entered the dressing room, jumping at the large mirror across from her before settling down on a bench instead.

"What went wrong this time?" Artemis asked as she closed the door, baring a handful of clothes with interest.

"Something surprised him. It's gone and he's probably confused as hell," she answered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Dang it, at the rate this is going Yubel's going to get him before we do."

"No he won't," Artemis insisted, tossing her a rather elegant blue dress to try on, "because we are the best there is in seduction, and we're going to use all of our assets to get what we need. Yubel can't do anything to fight against a bit of feminine charm can he?"

Driana caught the dress with raised eyebrows at her senior. "Remember the character that I'm playing is clueless, a bit shy, and crazy. She wouldn't wear this dress."

"That's why I'm going to 'fix' it after you put it on," Artemis answered easily, picking through other articles of clothing.

Driana sighed, taking off her shirt and skirt to pull on the long gown, and then studying herself critically in the mirror. "He saw my mark, he asked me about it this morning. Do you think he's starting to remember us?"

"Ra, that would make it a bit harder," she responded, picking up a shirt with strange stringy things hanging off the bottom. "I hope not. He'd run about a million miles in the opposite direction."

"But I didn't," she felt the need to remind the other girl. Artemis pursed her lips thoughtfully and answered slowly for the first time that Driana had known her.

"I think... it's because we run a bit... differently than he does..." she suggested. "After all, if I was like all of them I'd be old."

She drew out the word as if mocking it, which she very well could have been, and then critically examined Driana's black locks.

"Well if you think that's old"—a roll of her eyes—"then how do you see our advisor?"

A lip twitched into a thin smile and then she replied, "You know, maybe we should give you back your blue streaks..."

"I thought we just agreed memory lane was a bad idea unless he got it all at once," Driana replied, amused as Artemis grabbed the trail on her dress and neatly yanked it off, leaving the fabric slightly fraying right in the middle of her thighs.

"Well, if you think he kinda dimly remembers you, then why not make him really wonder? Take his attention away from Blondie at least," Artemis muttered as she proceeded to tear off the little stringy fabric from the shirt and attack it to the dress with complicated little knots, small enough to be unseen.

"The sewing club is going to hate you," Driana informed her lightly as she proceeded to recreate the outfits.

"Speaking of hate, Anderson still has issues with me," Artemis replied casually, pinching her fingers down strands of Driana's hair, effectively wiping away the black as if it had been a simple illusion. "How about the two of you? Your screw-up didn't make him run did it?"

She flinched slightly, avoided eye-contact for a few moments as she examined her hair in the mirror. Then she sighed, "No, he's fine around me. He's too nice to hate me for not talking to him for a year. 'Sides, it's not like he can link me and his heart episode."

"Hmm..." A pair of shoes was tossed in her direction and she put them on wordlessly, fingers gliding easily over the complicated straps. As she straightened she did not so much as wobble despite the three-inch heels. "Maybe you can kill two birds with one stone then. Jesse will follow you and Jaden, so when you get him, Jesse might follow as well. Then you'd have a clean record again, huh Danchou?"

She hesitated in her answer, pretending to size up her appearance in the mirror again. Then, "Yeah, that'd be great. We'd just be one big happy family."

Artemis snorted rather un-lady-like and rolled her sharp eyes. She then nodded in approval and opened the door to the dressing room.

"Where are you going?" Driana asked, sticking her head out the door as her mentor walked away.

"Mixing things up again," she replied with a wave of her hand, and then she disappeared out into the crowd, making waves once more.

* * *

......................................

**(Jaden, Alexis, and Atticus)**

**(Jaden POV)**

There was an awkward silence as we all looked at each other, confusion in our eyes. Then Alexis made a little strange coughing noise and let go of me, rubbing her arms slightly as if she was cold. Atticus started messing with his camera, a grin on his face, before he gave us a cheery wave and left the room, nearly knocking down Artemis as she came in bearing several cups of punch.

They glared at each other slightly, Artemis' grip on the tray tightening. "Watch it Rhodes."

"Sorry," Atticus muttered, though he looked anything but sorry. He suddenly walked back into our room as if he was protecting us from the new comer. She seemed to recognize this, but didn't seem to care.

"I brought you all some drinks before the show, gotta keep those vocals clear," she smirked, setting down the tray on the small wooden end table that was shove in the far corner of the room. She then passed me and Alexis a big cup each and then offered one to Atticus, which he took grudgingly. "Geez, you all are acting like someone died in here or something," she commented, taking her tray again and heading back to Driana's room with the remaining two glasses.

We were silent again, awkwardly taking sips from the strange-tasting punch. Then I remembered the student who had poured the white stuff in. Must have been trying to sweeten it up with sugar or something, but it didn't work very well.

"So... why were you hugging me? Not that I mind or anything," I finally asked, my curiosity getting the best of me.

She took another gulp from her drink and then started fiddling with the lip of the cup, looking a bit dazed. Then she met my eye and answered slowly. "I walked past your room and noticed that your door was open, so I thought I'd come in here to talk to you a bit. Then I saw that you were asleep, so I was going to leave. But then you started shivering so I sat down next to you the try and keep you warm, since my idiot brother broke the heating in this place. But then you latched onto me... so I couldn't move."

"Oh! Well thanks!" I answered, relieved by the answer. Even if I had a crush on her, that didn't mean I wanted her to have feelings for me too. I didn't want either her or Driana getting hurt because of this stupid triangle thing. "Wait—how did you break the heating Atticus?"

The elder Rhodes sibling then launched into his dramatic tale of changing a light bulb and destroying half of the wiring and gears in the ceiling, and we were all laughing hysterically by the end, our drinks all but gone. A slight buzzing was playing in my ears and I only flinched a little when I checked out my reflection and saw myself with golden eyes again.

Sugar-rushes are the cure to being afraid!

I made a mental note about that and grinned lazily at Alexis, who was looking perplexed at her drink, which only had about a quarter left in it. Then her gaze shifted up when she felt my eyes looking at her and she returned the grin, although it did not reach her eyes.

"What's up Lexi?" I asked her again, feeling a little less pleasant as the worry brought me back down to earth. She jumped and looked in the opposite direction. Preferring to look at me through the mirror than directly. I frowned. "Hey... when you look in the mirror...?"

She blinked, cocking her head to the side, making her hair fall in her face. I pushed it back without really thinking about it and then returned my hands to my lap, wondering how to phrase my question. But then I noticed that her face had gone a strange pinky color and I realized what I had just done—touched her face. A light blush decorated my own face, but I forced myself to look away. I had just embarrassed her after all, she wasn't blushing because her heart was going crazy and a fuzzy feeling was settling in her chest.

She thought it was ridiculous remember Jaden? Pull yourself together.

It still stung, especially now that I knew why. But that didn't matter—shouldn't matter. Driana loved me, and I could love her.

"Oh! Sissy! You have to get dressed!" Atticus trumpeted as the sewing club students came in, carrying boxes of clothes for me. "And you too Jay-man!"

Alexis left quickly, relieved, with the students, and I felt a pang at her eagerness to get out of my room, but pushed it aside.

Atticus didn't leave. Noooooooo, he started rummaging through the clothing and throwing them all over the room. I watched, confusion staying a little longer than it should have, and then I stood up, stumbling slightly over air.

"What are you doing?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest to keep warm.

* * *

............................

**(Jesse and Chazz)**

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDING!!!!!" Chazz Princeton hollered after he and Jesse Anderson were chosen to sing together up on stage. Of course, the two students dressed in bright colors and masks ignored his protests and pushed them up to the stage effortlessly, the tripping and jeering crowd shoving them up as well. Jesse simply laughed the entire time.

Then they learned what they had to sing, and he stopped laughing.

Several fan-girls screams emitted loudly, echoing off of the walls, a few suicide attempts were heard, and then a very load chorus of groans from the guys in the Academy. Then they started laughing in unison, pointing at the unfortunate duelists up on stage.

The song?

"THE CHAZZ CANNOT GO UP THAT HIGH!!!" Chazz protested, turning to the student that Atticus had left in charge will he prepared the love triangle group.

"NO ONE CAN!!" Jesse joined in, appalled. The little diva-ish microphones were put on their heads anyway. "THAT'S IT!!! I CALL THE LESS LIKE A GIRL'S PART!!" Jesse shouted, pointing dramatically at the giant screen dangling above the crowd's heads.

"NO WAY ANDERSON!!!" Chazz hollered, ready to tackle the European boy. "I'll duel you for it!"

"YOU'RE ON PRINCETON!!" Jesse screamed in response, but then they remembered that they didn't have their duel disks."CRAP!!!"

The crowd was making kissy faces at them now, some students falling down on their butts they were laughing so hard.

"THE CHAZZ WILL FIGHT YOU FOR IT!!"

"I WOULD BUT I DON'T HIT GIRLS!!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY ANDERSON?!?!"

"THAT'S RIGHT!! I WENT THERE!"

_"GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!"_

The two teens turned, inches from pummeling each other, and looked over at Atticus Rhodes, who looked a bit worse for wear, his clothing torn in a few places. They raised their eyebrows simultaneously, taking in his appearance.

"Get mauled by fan-girls again Atticus?" Chazz asked, turning back to Jesse, ready to continue their argument.

"Nope! I tried to play dress-up with Jaden! But it didn't work very well! What did Lexi say that one Shadow Rider said... oh! Right! He does have a really good left hook!" Atticus grinned.

Their jaws dropped.

"Now anyway... I have an ideal way to settle this!" Atticus announced, his grin only widening. Chazz prepared himself for the worst while Jesse innocently waited, unaware to the pandemonium that Atticus usually caused. "You are going to..."

They rolled their eyes when Atticus dramatically paused, pushing a few strands of his hair into place that had been misplaced in his struggle to force Jaden into a tight motorcycle jacket with no shirt underneath and incredible tight pants. In a condensed version, it did not work as he had planned.

"Does he seem a little tipsy to you?" Jesse whispered to Chazz discretely.

"He's always like that," Chazz snapped back, showing that he clearly did not want to talk to the transfer at the moment.

"Flip a coin!" Atticus yelled, breaking all of the dramatic tension that he had managed to build up. This, really, was none. "Jesse, since you're new here, you can call it!"

"Thanks!" he laughed, consulting briefly with Ruby on his shoulder. She waved her tail energetically and he smiled at her softly before loudly announcing, "Tails!"

"Alrighty! If its tails you get the part you want Jesse! Let's go!" Atticus announced, flipping the coin. He caught it out of the air and flipped it so it was on his arm, covered by his hand. "So who won? Who gets to be less humiliated in front of the entire academy? Who—?"

"JUST TELL THE CHAZZ ALREADY!!" Chazz snarled, jerking his senior's hand off the coin. His face fell comically. "NOOOOOOOOOO!! WHY?!?"

"YES!!" Jesse whooped, dancing around in a little circle energetically as the music started playing.

"THE CHAZZ REFUSES TO PARTAKE IN THIS!" Chazz whined, pouting like a three-year-old.

"What? The great Chazz Princeton is backing down from a challenge? You can't do it?" Jesse teased, sticking out his tongue just as childishly. That riled the rich teen up enough to perform, refusing to be seen as a spineless chicken in front of the entire school.

Jesse grinned and then turned back to the screen, ignoring the many screaming girls as he started to sing, something that he had never really mastered. But then again neither had the teens singing this song, so he didn't sound particularly horrible.

* * *

AN: **Jesse's part, **_Chazz's part,_ both 

* * *

**You warned me that you were gonna leave  
I never thought you would really go  
I was blind, but baby, now I see  
I broke your heart,  
Now I know**

**That I was being such a fool,  
And I didn't deserve you**

Jesse was smiling, enjoying himself even though he disliked the band. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, swaying back and forth, and waving at the many girls singing along with the lyrics.

Of course, Chazz looked at the pitch on the screen and his jaw dropped, but then he resigned himself to fate and started doing his best to match up to such a girly male voice. Needless to say he failed, but at least his screeches were partially drowned out by the slightly drunk from the spiked punch fan-girls.

_I don't wanna fall asleep,_

_'cuz I don't know if I'll get up  
And I don't wanna cause a scene,  
But I'm dying without your love  
Begging to hear your voice;  
Tell me you love me, too.  
Cause I'd rather just be alone if I know that I can't have you_

Jesse snickered slightly as his already established rival sulked, massaging his aching throat and gasping for air before he launched into his much lower and easier part.

**Looking at the letter that you left,  
**_(The letter that you left, will I ever get you back?)_

Chazz sulked even more, resigning himself to his broken pride.

**Wonderin' if I'll ever get you back**

_(Wha-Why? Wha-Why?)_

**Dreaming about when I'll see you next  
**_(When I'll see you next, will I ever get you back?)  
_**Knowing that I never will forget  
**_( I won't forget, I won't forget )  
_**That I was being such a fool,  
And I still don't deserve you**

Chazz panted, trying again to match the vocals of Nick Jonas.

_I don't wanna fall asleep, 'cuz I don't know if I'll get up  
And I don't wanna cause a scene,  
'Cuz I'm dying without your love (yeah!)  
I'm begging to hear your voice;  
Tell me you love me, too.  
Cause I'd rather just be alone,_

if I know that I can't have you

"OH CRAP!" Chazz shouted, seeing that the next few verses were entirely his.

_So tell me what we're fighting for  
Cause I know that the truth means so much more  
Cause you would if you could, don't lie._

His eyes bugged at the upcoming note and he yielded himself to a life of embarrassment, trying to get away from the memory that would haunt him from this night.

_Cause I'LL GIVE EVERYTHING that I've got left to show you I mean what I have said  
I know I was such a fool, but I can't live without you_

_I don't wanna fall asleep, I don't know if I'll get up  
I don't wanna cause a scene,  
But I'm dying without your love  
I'm begging to hear your voice;  
Tell me you love me, too.  
Cause I'd rather just be alone, if I know that I can't have you._

(_Yeah!)_ **(don't wanna fall asleep),  
**_Cause I don't know if I'll get up_ **(who knows if I'll get up?)  
**_I don't wanna cause a scene,  
'Cuz I'm dying without your love  
I'm begging to hear your voice_ **( let me hear your voice );**  
_Tell me you love me, too._ **(Tell me you love me, too)  
**_Cause I'd rather just be alone,_

Don't wanna fall asleep

If I know that I can't have you

The music slowly came to an end, several girls knocked over by their undying dedication to the Jonas Brothers, and some guys passed out from how much they hated the song for stealing their potential 'girl-friends' away. Jesse was simply staring, shocked, at Chazz. The younger Princeton himself was paler than normal and looked mortified within an inch of his life. He had hit the dreaded Nick Jonas high note. Then a sly grin overcame his features and he turned to Jesse.

"Shove it Anderson," Chazz panted before he keeled over backwards, passed out from lack of oxygen.

Jesse simply fell over laughing, unable to stop. So it was up to Atticus to fill in the roll of the cliché bearer and ask, "Is there a doctor in the house?"

* * *

**Put down the torches Jonas Brother fans. **

**I was just pocking fun at them a little bit. I actually do like their lyrics and music, and lets face it, they're cute, but they can't sing in key to save their lives. **

**So please don't freak out on me, you all know its true. XD So I was just playing around with it in this little thing.**

**Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading!**

**AxJfan**


	13. Performance Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX or any of the songs that appear in this fiction. **

**AUTHOR NOTE!!!**

**IF YOU HAVE READ THIS BEFORE IT IS NOT BECAUSE I UPLOADED THE SAME CHAPTER TWICE. **

**I split Transfer Part 1 into two different parts to make it easier for people to read, so this was bumped up into a new chapter. I'm sorry if it caused anyone any inconvience!!**

**AxJfan**

* * *

**Chapter 8 part 5**

**(Jaden POV)**

"Atticus..." I muttered to myself, tugging at the jacket that had been forced on me and wincing, the side of my head irritated once more. I kept forgetting about that spot and then someone goes and nails it right in the thick of a struggle...

(Flashback)

"Uh... Atticus? What are you doing?" I asked as the elder Rhodes took out some weird and uncomfortable looking clothing. He turned towards me, slowly, his eyes hidden behind his brown bangs, and I raised an eyebrow; not in the least impressed. "Come on, Atticus, cut that out or your face will get stuck like that and you won't be able to see!"

"What?!" Atticus shouted, immediately jerking upwards, his eyes filled with dramatic anime-style tears. "NO! This face must stay beautiful for all of the lady folk! Wah!"

I sweat-dropped slightly, trying to ignore the buzzing that had returned to my ears. Lazily, my eyes flickered back to my drink, wondering how much sugar the student had put in it, and then I looked up again just in time to see a blur of colors launching itself at me. I threw my hands up in some form of defense and then was knocked over in a heap of tangled limbs.

My head thumped painfully against the floor, forcing me to remember the night that Syrus had been kidnapped and I had been knocked out cold. I flinched, trying not to think what happened because of that, and addressed Atticus, not at all in the mood for any of his pranks.

"What are you doing bro?!" I demanded, wriggling with all of my might against Atticus' grip. He grinned from his position on top of me and started tugging at my Slifer Jacket.

"Dress up time Jay-man!" he laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world. I continued to thrash against his grip, but he snatched a hold of my right arm. Angry and _so done with this_, I swung my left arm around, not even thinking my actions through. He went reeling back, holding his head where I had nailed him. I blinked, stunned, and he looked even more surprised than I felt.

I stood up slowly, my arms raised. "Sorry bro! I didn't mean to hit you that hard!" I stayed in the same position for a few seconds too long, because the next thing I knew my shirt and jacket were off and he was trying to jam me into the uncomfortable leather coat. _"ATTICUS!!"_

We then dissolved into a very unmanly display of slap-fights and flailing limbs with no real direction. I managed to grab onto his blazer a few times to try and push him off, but he would wiggle away and I would be left holding a piece of ripped fabric.

Jeez.

"WAAGGHH! Hold still Jaden!" he cried dramatically as he chased me around the small room, the jacket blowing noticeably in a non-existent wind.

"Why would I want that?! It looks really uncomfortable! I don't do stuff like that Atticus!" I whined back before I tripped over _another damn cord_ and he was on top of me again, forcing the jacket on. I managed to roll over so I had him pinned down, but then he flipped me again. My head knocked against the hard, unforgiving floor again, and I went still, seeing stars. Then I felt his hands at my zipper and I came back, trying to slap them away. "WHAT IN RA'S NAME ARE YOU DOING?!?!"

He grinned devilishly, producing a pair of pants from a random vortex in space and time. And guess what? You're right! They were really uncomfortable looking and tight! Yay! You win... the prize of helping me get away from this maniac!!! Wait... who am I even talking too? GAH!!

"AHH!" I shouted as I tackled him, and we both crashed into one of the walls, nearly knocking the flimsy thing down. "Ouch..."

"Pain is beauty!" Atticus shouting, yanking off one of my shoes in the process. He regarded it with mild interest before returning his attention to me. I was about to run out when I remembered that I was shirtless, missing one shoe, and my pants were dangerously close to falling off. Even I could figure out that going outside was not an option. "I will defeat you!" Atticus yelled, tackling my feet and taking out the other shoe.

My poor head hit the ground again. "OUCH! Atticus! That hurts!"

"Too bad!" he giggled, waving my shoe in my face. "You can take it like a man!"

I growled slightly, thumping him on the head where I hadn't hit him, and tried to pry my legs out of his death-grip. All that did was make my pants go dangerously low so that most of my red boxers were showing. Thanks goodness I didn't wear any of my crazy ones today!

"Eek! Give me back my pants!" I squealed, my voice cracking. Atticus froze for a second and then just started laughing, making me blush again, and then he jumped on me, trying to yank the jeans all the way off so he make me wear the pants now that the leather jacket was half-way on.

Of course, it was then that the random student decided to open the door to my room, eyes wide. "Oh... um... Atticus, you're needed on stage... Chazz is going to throw a fit... uh... forget about it, sorry for interrupting..."

It was then I realized what she must be seeing: Me, blushing, under Atticus, his hand pulling down my pants, my lack of a shirt. Even though I didn't get the exact implication of our position, I had enough insight to blush heavily and kick Atticus out, screaming, "TAKE HIM!!"

Then I slammed the door and sat there in my boxers, the tight jeans hung over the bench where Atticus had dropped them, and stared at my golden eyed reflection for the longest time.

(End Flashback)

Of course, it was only two minutes after I had kicked him out that I realized he had taken all of the other clothes, so I either had to walk around in boxers or in those horrible jeans to find him and get my clothes back.

Great.

So here I am now, irritated, stalking around backstage with my hair spiking out even crazier than usual, in tight clothing. And what makes things so much better is that, you know, I'm questioning my very humanity with every step I'm taking!

JUST DANDY ISN'T IT!!!

Anger simmered in my blood, its touch making my fists clench tightly to try and rid myself of it, my eyes narrowing as if I could glare the world away, my mouth becoming tight and thin. I'm so fed up with being confused! I hate being left in the dark! I hate this!

I want to be alone! But no, I have to go up in front of the entire freaking Academy and sing to them when Ra knows I have no idea how to do that! Not only that—but I have to do it with a girl that I have a crush on without getting even further in this triangle! Oh, and not to mention that one of my crushes _loves_ me!!!

What am I supposed to say? Sorry, don't love you. Get over it. Could I learn to? Yeah. Then why won't I? Oh, cuz, you know, I might actually turn out to be a really dangerous evil guy in the future! Either that or I'll go insane because I've got another person in my head! Or, you know, I'll just hightail it outta here one day and you'll never see me again! Why?

Oh, no reason at all. I just might not be who everyone else thinks I am. Who's that?

Just a psychopath who would probably kill you all without any freakin' regret!!!

The scowl on my face must have made me look completely different, because a student looked up at me, surprised, and asked if I was related Jaden Yuki. I gave a rather shaky laugh and answered through grit teeth that I was Jaden Yuki and Atticus had managed to force me into this. "Oh!" he grinned sheepishly, tugging at his Ra blazer. "Atticus is on stage I think."

"Thanks," I said shortly, stomping off in the other direction. But then I heard him ask his other friend something that made me stop dead.

"Since when has Jaden had gold eyes?"

No... way...

"I think they're contacts. Must be Atticus again," the other responded with a shrug before they started talking about Jim Cook's crocodile and refilling a few hollow napkin containers on the creaky table they were sitting on. I forced myself to keep moving, trying to outrun the panic. I needed Alexis or Driana or Jesse. They made it leave in the infirmary and in the duel, so they can make it go away now. But what will they say when I show up like this? With clearly not-brown-eyes?!?!

I rounded the corner quickly and crashed right into someone.

I was sent stumbling to the remorseless floor while he just stood there, glowering down at me with cold eyes. It was one of the transfers... Drake something or other. He brushed his long black bangs out of his face, revealing his heavy eyebrows and nearly tearing his Obelisk jacket because of his muscle bulk.

"Watch it," he snarled at me before walking in the opposite direction, towering over the other students. As he passed me I felt like a fist had been driven into my stomach and my strength and anger evaporated like a fine morning mist. I gasped in a breath of air and shook my head, waking myself up again, and decided that I had taken way to many tumbles today.

Real and mental I guess... but how could I avoid the mind ones? I can ignore my own feelings, but I can't just ignore Driana's—that'd hurt her. And I don't want to be in a relationship enough to approach her about it... and I really don't know what being an 'item' is all about anyway.

And... my eyes... Did this mean I had to leave?

"Jay! Are you alright?"

I looked up, my focus weakened and distorted by the heavy weight of confusion, and was immediately sucked into another scene.

_She approached me quickly, her long blue gown gathering dust in its wake, her wide sapphire eyes nearly glowing in the sunlight that streamed through the windows. Then she shot a glare behind me at the taller person who had knocked me over and extended her own young arm and smile. _

_An offering. _

_"Don't mind him," she grinned, the blue in her hair shining against the walls. "He's always like that Artemis says."_

I accepted her hand and we stood, and just like that it was over.

Except for one thing.

Driana Danchou still had the blue streaks.

"Uh..." I said stupidly, deer-in-the-headlights eyes. "Your hair..."

"Oh? You like it? Artemis did it with this little kit thingy. I think it's really cool! Now we both have two colors, huh?" she sang, reaching up and messing with my hair. Then she backed up and spun around, making the colors blend in a dizzying kaleidoscope. It happened again, one second she would be swirling, and then after a turn she'd be younger again, in another puffy dress in a big, important-looking room.

I backed up, rubbing my eyes hastily, not saying anything, and then blinked heavily. What the heck?

"Oh... you don't like it?" she pouted, finally noticing that I hadn't commented.

"N-No! I think it looks great!" I stuttered, trying to form thoughts. "Hey... have we met before?"

"Well duh! I wouldn't just walk up to some random stranger and twirl around in front of them!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. I almost laughed.

Almost.

"No... I mean, like, before Duel Academy?" I persisted, watching with interest as her gaze became sharper, more like ice. If there was one thing I was, I was perceptive. Class-smart? Nope. Romance? Nada. But I was pretty sure I could read her like a book.

Her stance told a chapter, her neck a few pages, her mouth an epilogue. They worked in perfect harmony to produce one dominating tone, something easy to understand once you read over all of the small twitches and tightness. The only problem was she was in a whole new language and I could only read Japanese and scattered English.

But I still had one point to look at, something to stare into, the main bulk of the entire story, the eyes, and the climax of emotion in any tale. Hers were no exception to my rule. They were a little too interested, too sharply tapered at the top to make her next words believable.

"Probably not," she answered, swinging her arms around this time, her gaze twinkling mischievously. Why is she lying when the truth is right in front of my face? Does she think I'm stupid? "I think I'd remember meeting someone in a motorcycle jacket and tight pants."

That threw me right out of the plot and back into confusion.

"Huh?" I asked, having completely forgot about my dilemma. I looked down and blushed again, rubbing the back of my head. "Oh... Atticus got me."

"Ah!" she grinned. And then she grabbed my arm and held onto me close, pulling me away. "I'll help you find him Jay!"

My pulse started to dart up again and I panicked, jerking my arm away from her. She came to a stop and looked simply stunned while I fumbled for an answer.

I was so sick of having to run away from my friends about this, but it's not like I could tell her that I had weird "fits" whenever she touched me and I was worried that it would happen again right now, after I had established the fact that _I am not in love and don't know what it is in the first place._

Anger coiled its blurry edges around my heart once more, but I ignored it to the best of my ability, shoving the mist away as hard as I could. It hesitated and dispersed, leaving a surprised wake of hollowness in its place.

"He's on stage!" I blurted out, the lie falling from my tongue easily. "And I'd rather not walk out like this in front of all the students!"

I added a hasty laugh into the mix.

"Oh," she answered, not meeting my eye. She kicked at a pretend pebble and then looked up, smiling again. "I'll go get your clothes back from him Jaden!"

Without waiting for an answer she darted off, heading for stage in that little blue dress. Not bothering to return to my room to see the mocking image of what I did not want to be watching me, I slid down to the floor and put my head in my hands.

I won't risk my friends' lives again. If I can't get answers...

Tonight will be my last night at Duel Academy.

* * *

**(Alexis POV)**

"Atticus, you are so dead," I muttered, the first thing that I managed to think after I had stopped myself from going fanatical over Jaden's casual brush. I tried to pretend that I wasn't still blushing or smiling like crazy, tried to remind myself that he was helplessly in love with another girl, tried to mess up my hair so the evidence wasn't there, but none of it worked.

Why?

BECAUSE HE TOUCHED MY FACE!!

I blushed even harder, squirming around in the tiny black dress that had been left out for me. Then I decided I was going to just show up on stage with my uniform rather than be seen in this when a random student knocked on my door. "Alexis? Throw somethin' on sweety cuz I'm coming in."

Then Artemis walked into the room without waiting for consent and sat down on my bench, looking me up and down. I glowered at her, annoyed.

"Nice dress," she finally said. Then she checked her fingernails and continued, "We've got all of ten minutes before your big moment baby, so are you ready or what...?"

"Uh, no actually. I'm not wearing this."

"Why not? That Jaden kid got stuck with a lot better clothes than you and he's not complaining."

"Better?"

"Tighter. And no shirt. He's got decent abs on him by the by. Nothing too dramatic like I like 'em, but plenty good enough to be filling out that jacket."

I pretended like my thoughts weren't trying to picture him. Nope, nothing going on here. No hand-touch or shirtless Jaden walking around. Nope, we're good.

Aw crap. How hard was God going to test my endurance tonight?! I'm already feeling a bit overwhelmed thank-you-very-much!!

"Yeah, he's waiting out in the hall for Driana. She was going to try and get his clothes back. No luck if I have anything to do with it."

"Why exactly are you here Artemis?" I asked pointedly, not liking where this conversation was going.

"Huh. To the point hon? Well, since you asked so impolitely, I'll tell ya. I'm here to warn you that Atticus and I are in a contest to try and match clueless over there with you or Driana. So be one your toes tonight, cuz you're either gonna get him or lose him."

"Um, that's fine. I'm not interested in Jaden like that," I answered, lying like I had never lied before. She looked me up and down again, and then smiled.

"Sure you don't hon."

Then she was gone.

Was it really that obvious?

And more importantly: Would she tell Jaden about it?

I sat down on my own bench, looking into my reflection, staring at the stranger in the glass. She was a pretty thing, shapely and with the stereotypical blonde hair and a big bra size. The tight-fitting dress followed her every curve, looking like a bizarrely colored second skin. Her nails were reflecting the bright lights above her head as if they were prestigiously manicured and her bangs cast her long eyelashes into shadows, adding a hint of natural mascara. She was pretty, just pretty. There was nothing truly remarkable about her from just looking at her figure.

This could not be me.

Then I looked into her eyes, my one point that would always lend me the power to see into another person's soul, and I found the girl I was looking for. She was sad, very sad. She was hidden behind her appearance willingly, trying to escape from this reality that she had come to know, but she was still there. I leaned in closer, trying to close the feet between myself and that girl. But for now she was still out of reach. Her wounds were still too fresh for her to join back in the game; she needed some time to recover.

She looked back at me then, and she shook her head. "You are not Alexis Rhodes," she said from her safe place. I thoroughly agreed with her. "You can still like him and be yourself though. I've been doing it for years. I don't need anyone other than my friends."

I let out a deep sigh, fogging up the frigid air with my warm breathe. Absently, I reached out as far as I could; she stretched as well from her own bench. Our fingers came close, so very close to touching one another, but we could not reach through the barrier between us. We pushed hard against it, but it was tougher than the two of us combined, so we did not reunite. We simply regarded each other with mutual disdain.

"I can be Alexis Rhodes again," I told her firmly, and she copied me, the same fire blazing in her glossy eyes. "I am strong enough to be happy for him. I can..."

"... not finish this tirade. You can't stop liking him. But you won't act on it," she continued.

We were closer, me and the girl I had been. I pressed my fingers even harder against the transparent wall, wincing when they cracked in response. But that was only minor pain compared to what I was still going through now that his warm glow wasn't affecting my face. "As long as he's happy," we repeated, our nearly touching hands curling into fists against the glass.

"That's all that matters. I am strong enough. I have always been strong enough..."

Except... I still wasn't the Alexis Rhodes I had been. So the question wasn't about whether Artemis would tell Jaden or if my feelings were obvious. The question was how long could I hold out? How long would it be before I was Alexis Rhodes again?

How long until Jaden smacked me in the face by dating Driana?

I took one more deep breathe from my diaphragm, drawing in all the numbing air as I could, and then I released it, closing my eyes in response. Tonight. That was what Artemis said.

I could hold out for tonight. For him, I could hold out forever.

* * *

**(In the animal facility...)**

"My precious Jaden..."

It was almost a purr, but it seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once, as if the being was as powerful as time itself. The glow from the faint cameras coincided with the orange tint from the swirling energy being drained every time a student was foolish enough to duel. The largest glob of plasma seemed to be hovering around the center of the container as if it was the heart, and it moved almost as if it was being stroked.

"You gave me so much energy today my precious one... I will be with you again soon my Jaden... And then I can return the love you gave to me... the love you promised..."

The screens flickered slightly. The voice suddenly wailed loudly as a tall teen crashed into its beloved and sent him to the floor. "No! He is MINE!"

It was an angry, childish demand, but by no means did it lack any threat. "You _may not_ touch him boy! You will _suffer_ for inflicting that form of love on him! I am the only one who can!"

It seemed to watch him through the monitors, its presence expanding across the room, searching for the energy it needed to make the boy vanish into the stars that littered the night sky. But it found none, and curled back into its tank, waiting.

Then it made a strange noise, almost like a growl, but it was too fearsome to be defined by such a weak word, as another person reached down and helped its property up and twirled before him in a dazzling display of colors. "So you are here you little witch..." it whispered, the tank glowing eerily as if the disembodied voice was connected to it. "And the other four as well... but who are you all? You should have died long ago... three of you lost your lives... why are you standing there,_ touching what is mine_?!"

The energy in the tank boiled as if it were connected to Jaden's simmering blood, and then a single purple eye opened in it, glaring at the girl conversing with him. Vines reached past the edge of the tank and stroked a transparent hand on the screen, on Jaden's face.

"You will pay for trying to take him from me foolish children. But who is guiding you? Surely you all could not have grouped up and found my little one all by your lonesome?"

She left then, and Jaden turned, sliding down to the ground, his head in hands. The eye softened and almost purred. "My Jaden... your pain is delicious..."

It stroked his face through the monitor once more, and then called out to him softly. _"Jaden, why won't you play with me?"_

He jumped on screen, his head flying in all directions. Then he froze and shook his head, his mouth moving as if saying "paranoid" before he returned to his position. He then looked up and forced a smile at the light fixture. His head turned to the side just as another person came walking up to him, then the boy bent into range of the camera.

"They are here... they are aiming for him, but they cannot have him! He is mine! Mine!"

The supposed-to-be dead boy grinned and pulled up Jaden, exchanging a few words with the obviously distracted teen. The eye watched carefully, assessing its prey as he swung a casual arm over his shoulder and Jaden followed suit, a smile (granted a sad one) gracing his face.

"ENOUGH!!" it shouted, exerting as much force as it could, all focused on the teal-haired boy that dared to claim Jaden, dared to touch him like that. Its eyes widened as the enemy stumbled and put a hand to his heart, surprise etching its way onto his face. Jaden held up his weight and questioned him quietly, but the boy was already back to normal; his eyes confused.

It seemed pleased with itself at this new development and tried to lash out again, only to find that it could not summon up the strength for a second time. It needed _more power_. More of _Jaden's_ power...

"You can wait a little longer for me my precious one. I have waited for an eternity for you, and I am finally ready to return the love you showed me... Jaden... I'm here. Wake up my little king, wake up..."

Then its force giggled, the three voices that had been used now lost in the cacophony of sounds echoing into the night. The retched sound startled several wary animals from their homes, sending them scattering into the thinner parts of the underground forest. On their path a few encountered another run away, but they did not sense good things from him either, so they left him too. He was strange, not from their home. Not welcome, like the three-voice-monster.

"Yubel..." he spoke, and he held an odd tone when he uttered it. It was as if he were praising and damning the addressed creature all in one simple word. He sighed and pushed his hands over his ears at its noise, silently padding back to his hideout. His hand brushed against the small lines of time around his mouth and he grunted, knowing that he actually looked his age tonight. But he knew that would be the least of his trouble by the way fearsome tigers fled from the laughter.

For if Jaden did fall pray to Yubel...

He was sure that they would all be destroyed in the process.

* * *

**Alrighty! I just split this chapter in two so the performances wouldn't make it extremely long. The performances are going to be put up in a few hours (at the least) or in a day (at the most). **

**Sorry guys but I'm just really busy with school and the holidays! **

**Thank you for reading and keeping up with all of my flakiness! **

**AxJfan**


	14. Performance Part 2

**Hi guys! Just one more part after this! I'm so sorry that it's taking me so long! Now I must go before you read the end and chase after me with pitchforks.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh Gx.**

* * *

**(Time skip—Stage)**

**(Jaden POV)**

We hung around backstage—Alexis, Driana, and I—while Atticus chattered away to the rambling student body hidden behind the starch gray wall that separated us. I twitched around in my clothing, uncomfortable with the heavy silence wrapped tightly around our throats, uncomfortable with their all too aware gazes on my face, uncomfortable with every single thing around me all the way down to my pants.

They were dealing with similar feelings, I could tell by just glancing into their faces. Alexis' eyes kept drifting back towards my open chest as if she really couldn't believe what I was wearing. Then she would jerk away when she knew I was watching her. Driana did not seem bothered by my appearance, but rather by the lack of communication between us. I knew because she turned away and listened to Atticus instead of dealing with our awkwardness.

How exactly had this happened to us? Alexis and I used to be so close; we'd all been tight, like a pack of Kuribohs or something. Why was it that when I kept something that would protect them, we started to fall apart?

_It didn't matter,_ I told myself firmly. _You are leaving tonight if you can't get answers. You can't risk..._

I watched the crowd from a new angle, searching for the ones I loved from the shadows. I finally found them hanging around the back of the crowd, their faces smiling and interacting with each other exactly the way the three of us could not. This was how I was going to remember them; this would be one of the last glances I would cherish on them...

Syrus laughed at something Jesse said, his glasses nearly falling to the floor, and Hassleberry was going at it with Jim Cook, making various gestures with his hands towards the big crocodile on the student's back. Bastian was smiling and nodding his head at whatever Jesse had said...

I closed my eyes.

"JADEN, LEXI, AND DRIANA!! COME ONTO THE BIG STAGE!!"

We all jumped and laughed nervously, silently relieved to be given an out from this tension. "So, here we go," I grinned feebly as we dragged our feet towards the stares of our classmates. My lack of proper clothing made itself noticed again with a slight breeze as I walked out into open space again.

"I guess," Alexis replied just as weakly, looking straight ahead.

"May the best one win?" Driana offered, waving at the others.

"Yup."

_This was so horrible! Why couldn't we talk to each other?!_ I couldn't take it anymore.

"So anyway," I added, pointing at the dumbstruck crowd and forcing a toothy smile on my face. "Let's listen to what they have to say 'bout this!" I pointed at me clothing and laughed, pleased when Alexis joined me and Driana snorted.

"I'm impressed you can even move in those pants Jay," Dri informed me, then pointed at her own tight-fitted dress. "Ra knows I'm doing all I can not to fall over right now! Heels! Seriously, heels and I do not work!"

Alexis laughed a bit louder as we stood behind Atticus and looked out at Duel Academy for the first time tonight. "I've got the same dress issue. I was just about to change into my uniform and then Artemis barges in and steals it!"

She looked at me out of the corner of her eyes again, eyeing my stomach before the bridge of her nose turned pink. Weird. "Yeah, Atticus fought me over this!" I replied, poking the elder Rhodes in front of me to add emphasis. "We almost destroyed that little dressing room!"

They laughed, Atticus waving his arms around at us and then the crowd announcing, "Can't you just feel the love tonight Duel Academy?!"

_This is my last night with the people I love..._

They were all silent, staring at the three of us with wide eyes. Our laughter died down and we fidgeted around again, exchanging uncomfortable glances. Then the whispers erupted.

"Who is that guy? He looks a lot like Jaden..."

"No way, Jaden would never wear clothes like that..."

"Whoever he is he's hot..."

"Uh-huh. There are too FINE babes up there on stage tonight."

"Alexis should wear clothes like that all the time."

"She does you moron, look at our uniforms. That dress covers more than our skirts."

"Really? Hmm... you're right. I'm in Obelisk Blue by the way... wanna go out?"

"You pervert! I didn't mean that you should actually look up my skirt!"

"Who is that girl next to Alexis? She's got a great bust too..."

"Now you're just going to ignore me?!?!"

"That is Jaden Yuki. _Oh-My-Ra._"

"SLACKER!!!" I jumped at the sound of Chazz's voice. He was crawling out from underneath a table (how had he ended up there?) and pointing at me in shock. "What in Ra's name are you wearing?!"

"Clothes!" I shouted back, cupping my hands around my mouth so he could hear me. I think I saw his brows narrow in response and his mouth open to rebuke me, but then his sight drifted to my right side and he saw Alexis.

His eyes filled over with the sight of love and his mouth dropped even further, making it easy for me to imagine hearts coming out of his eyes. He was always acting so strangely around her...

"ALEXIS!! YOU LOOK LIKE A GODDESS COMING DOWN FROM HEAVEN ABOVE!! LIKE A—"

"Atticus, give me your microphone," she snarled over Chazz's proclamation. I silently hoped that he could comfort her when I was gone. And maybe Jesse would help out Driana...

"What do you need it for?" he asked, handing the piece of technology over to her. She gladly accepted it, raised her arm above her head, took aim, and fired...

"MY LEXI-RAM—AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Target hit.

"Lexi! That was my microphone!" Atticus complained, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I put it to a much better use than anything you could have done Atti!" she replied, her hands on her hips. A few people whistled at her like a wolf would howl at the moon. She shot them a disapproving glance that clearly said 'You're next'.

"But that was my only one!" her brother continued to complain, his head now hanging in mock-sorrow.

"Why don't you just use your big mouth instead?" she snapped back, but she smiled a bit, lessening the harsh words. I watched them squabble, my chest tightening even further at their passionate sibling rivalry.

I had never really paid much attention to it before... but now that I might not see it again...

My throat constricted.

"Oh-My-God-Jaden! You look AMAZING!! I LOVE YOU JADEY-PIE!!!"

I forced myself to look away from the family members in front of me and turned towards the crowd again, finding myself looking at Blair Flannigan. She was sitting calmly on top of a surprised Hassleberry's shoulder, waving to me and making kissy faces. I took a deep breathe, held it, and released it. I would miss her too.

"You alright Jay?" Driana asked me, waving politely at a Ra Yellow who was smiling at her rather brightly. I couldn't even muster up the energy to be angry at him.

"Yeah, just a bit tired," I answered back, rolling onto the balls of my feet and then wincing when the tight pants... yeah. Let's just leave it at they are too tight.

"Well wake up then sleepy-head! You're about to sing in front of everyone! Aren't you nervous?"

"Jaden's never nervous," Alexis replied suddenly, breaking off from her argument with Atticus. I spared him a glance and grinned when I saw he was nursing a red mark on his face.

_That's for making us wear these clothes Atticus! Karma baby!_

I turned back and my bangs fell over my eyes, annoying me. I blew at them. They refused to unblock my line of vision. I snapped my hand up and swiped at them, effectively pushing them back out of my eyes, and then tried to grin at my classmates.

If Crowler were here he'd probably fail me.

So I watched the students watch me instead. They kept up their constant buzz of noise, pointing with hands and drinks, occasionally spilling them all over their partner. My eyes drifted towards them again, the people that I loved. They were chuckling at Chazz's misfortune and applauding Alexis. In response, Chazz rose, threw his fists up into the air, stomped his feet, swatted at the Ojama Brothers, kicked the microphone, and turned his back to them with a loud "Humph!"

The tips of my lips twitched feebly.

"Alrighty then!" Atticus cheered suddenly, speaking into a diva microphone now that his was lodged firmly into a plaster wall. "It's finally time for our last round!"

Appropriate applause was inserted in along with some more wolf-whistles and a girly shriek of joy from a certain Blair Flannigan. I shook my head.

"Now in this round, anything can happen! It will start out with a duet of course, which will be chosen at random, so we could get another Chazz-Jesse style rock-out up here on the stage too!"

"Yeah!" Jesse shouted over the crowd, jumping around energetically while Jim Cook tried to calm him down. I waved to them and forced a smile.

"A" for effort right?

Jesse responded by pointing to my chest and then giving me a thumbs up and what might have been a wink. I was sure if winks could be sarcastic, that one would have been. I rolled my eyes at him.

"So after the first round whoever we missed will be up singing by his or her lonesome and then we have the ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN!!! As you know, you've all been voting for the participants of this through the night, it'll be either Jaden, Alexis, Driana, or a coocky combination of them!"

"So! Let's see who will be our first one up, huh Duel Academy?!"

The students, in crazy mob form, all cheered sloppily as one, pumping their fists into the air.

"Alrighty then! Let's spin this thing!" He pulled the lever again for the second time tonight, and we all waited in anticipation as the names appeared on the screen, spinning incomprehensively.

Slowly, ever so slowly, it stopped on the only male in the threesome. Me.

Oh.

Joy.

Atticus jammed the microphone over my head and then bent it so he could continue to address the audience.

"And his partner? That'll be a secret until it's their part!" Atticus grinned, winking at me before dragging the other two girls offstage.

_All this work just to get me together with someone and I'm just going to leave them..._ I thought bitterly, morphing my frown into a focused look, trying to make it seem like I was just trying to read the song choices as they spun incoherently out of focus. The brooding was getting me nowhere, and I seriously doubted that I was going to figure out anything surrounded by a sea of crazy students, so I gave up.

_All right, a fast song, come on lady luck! You can blunder through a fast song no matter how down you are! Come on!_ I mentally encouraged the big screen as it spun through the duet choices.

My eyes squinted into the words, trying to read what they couldn't, and the room started spinning. I looked in the other direction and blinked a few times to try and clear my vision, shaking my head like a wet dog.

A loud 'ding!' told me it was done. It stopped on a song that I had never heard of, "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore" by John Bon Jovi and LeAnn Rimes. Strange names.

I shot a glance backstage in a last moment decision, attempting to discern who was going to be my partner, who I had to throw up shields against. Alexis gave me an attempt at a smile and Driana waved encouragingly. Unable to tell, I took a deep breath, and turned back to the screen, their faces giving me enough strength to hope. Maybe I could make it through this night without losing it...

But I still wanted nothing more to be alone at this very moment. I was wishing to be back in my dorm room so I could throw things, rage, scream my frustration into my pillow, and then talk to Kuriboh until I had figured something out.

But what? It seemed too late to stop anything that might be happening; I already was seeing myself as Haou in the mirror and another student said I had...

But then the music came on, and I was distracted enough to keep up my front line of defense in the face of the Academy. I knew this was no fast song from the first chord of the guitar. It sounded almost country-ish to me, but a bit of rock at the same time... I gave up on understanding it (like so much right now) and was just grateful that my part looked relatively low and easy to sing...

... Cuz I knew just about as much as a walrus when it came to singing.

......................

**Male part**, _Girl's part_, both

.......................

**"It might be hard to be lovers, but it's harder to be friends,"** I started out and winced, deciding that I didn't like singing this part after all. The guy sang with a kind of accent or something and I did not have it. How was I supposed to hit notes that came from colloquial inheritance?! **"Baby, pull down the covers, it's time you let me in. Maybe light a couple candles, I'll just go ahead and lock the door."**

What the heck is this song even about? Who lights candles and then locks the door? Fire safety people!

Pushing past my sporadic thoughts, I continued to sing to the best of my ability, even though my throat was already bothering me. A few students poked fun at me by covering their ears and sticking out their tongues. For the most part though, they seemed to be enjoying it...

**"If you'll just talk to me baby, till we ain't strangers anymore."**

_Oh... that's what this is about? Two friends getting to know each other again?_ I liked that idea.

I was so out of it that I didn't notice her until she was right next to me, taking her place at my side. Grimacing slightly I completed the last lines, she thumped me lightly on the stomach and whispered, "Diaphragm, remember? Stick your gut out."

Her blue streaks streamed in front of my eyes as she walked past me and twirled into place, a big grin on her face as she started to sing. _"Lay your head on my pillow; I sit beside you on the bed."_

I felt my jaw hit the floor. Her voice was..._ inhuman_. That was the only proper way to describe it! It was enchanting, the most beautiful voice I had ever heard! It didn't hold any of the awkwardness that usually managed to weave its way into teenage vocals, it was as if she was some kind of a fairytale creature who could weave love through melody and bring all around her to tears.

_"Don't you think its time we say some things we haven't said?"_

I felt all eyes on us, and I didn't care.

Then she took my hand and made me twirl her around clumsily, her eyes imploring me to enjoy myself, to feel comfortable, to dance with her. I followed the impulse, not at all ungrateful for having someone else lead me through the steps—to be a marionette. I was actually happy to have her guiding my way, because everything else that had been thrown on me had just been jerking me all around in a senseless motion with no sense or reason, waiting for me to break apart and fall to the ground. But she kept me lifted easily, our movements smoother than I ever remembered moving...

But then...

Her voice carried around, something twinkling in her eyes as if she had a secret. _"It ain't too late to get back to that place. Back to where we thought it was before."_

Colorless walls bled into rich marble ramparts. Her dress extended, the tiny strings becoming a skirt that flowed around us in a colorful oceanic blur. Her features became softer, and the world seemed to be taller, and I was sure that there was a piano playing somewhere. But that didn't matter. That voice!

_"Why don't you look at me, till we ain't strangers anymore,"_ she sang, tapping the traditional beat on my shoulder, her eyes twinkling once more. There was a man to the right of us, laughing as he played the grand piano and a woman had her arms wrapped around his neck loosely, her red lips smiling at the sight of us as we scampered across the ballroom floor.

"Diaphragm," the woman called out, her eyes twinkling behind their mascara. "Come on Jaden, you've got to learn this eventually!"

Determined to finally get the difficult thing that was singing and dancing without falling, I looked at my close friend and smiled, light blazing in my brown eyes. I opened my mouth, drawing air in through my diaphragm, and sang with her.

"Sometimes it's hard to love me, sometimes it's hard to love you too," we sang, together, our voices blending as practiced. Her smile widened now that I had finally succeeded and I spun her just for the heck of it. She nearly messed up because of a giggle that escaped her, but recovered. After all, people like her never mess up.

"I know it's hard believing that love can pull us through. It would be so easy to live your life with one foot out the door."

There were words on something in front of me, something that I had never seen before, but I ignored the concern, just going along with the words, excited at my accomplishment. We slowed, casually swaying side to side so we could read the words together. "Just hold me baby, till we ain't strangers anymore."

The music of the piano surrounded us for a while, allowing us to catch their breath. I brushed aside one of her raven locks that was tickling my cheek and then stuck out my tongue at her. She crossed her eyes and mirrored me, and we laughed, the noise echoing. Then those magical words floated back into vision.

"It's hard to find forgiveness when you just found out the lies. It's hard to say you're sorry when you can't tell wrong from right. It would be so easy to spend your whole damn life just keeping score." The words seemed to mean something deeply to us both, because we fell silent while the music took over again, pondering over each other. It was then that I started to notice that there were other instruments playing, many that I had not even heard of.

I frowned.

For the briefest second the parapet and the man and the woman flickered out of existence, replaced with new faces, but then we were back.

**"So let's get down to it baby. There ain't no need to lie,"** I sang, my voice trembling slightly with confusion. I was suddenly aware that my clothes felt very tight and that the side of my head ached. But why?

_"Tell me who you think you see, when you look into my eyes,"_ she sang, a new look entering her face—something that I had never seen her wear before. A predatory stare. She knew something was happening, something strange. But then it was gone the next instant and she was glowing with innocence once more.

I forgot why I was worried again and looked towards the words.

"Let's put our two hearts back together and leave the broken pieces on the floor..."

There! I had seen the other people again as we twirled 'round again. Their faces seemed strange to me, they appeared to be in shock almost, as if she and I were appearing just as fleetingly in their world. Perhaps we were; I knew that there were other worlds out there after all.

"Make love with me baby, till we ain't strangers anymore," we finished, and the music faded away. For a brief second the two images merged, the wall filled with astonished faces and the man and woman applauding us and the words fading off the screen. I turned my head towards the couple, listening to the sound that the woman's lace gloves made when she clapped her hands together. Then a noise, far too loud to come from the half full room we were in, erupted around me and the ramparts shattered, the anonymous people winning out.

And suddenly they weren't anonymous anymore.

I was in Duel Academy, standing in front of my fellow classmates and holding Driana Danchou in a dip position (which I almost dropped her from now that I realized what I was doing) and our faces were close. Unable to do anything else, I pulled her up and she twirled out again, my hand still in hers, and bowed, pulling me down too.

I took off the microphone attached to my ear and turned towards her once more as Atticus took the stage.

"I didn't know you could dance Jay," Driana smiled, flicking her hair.

I couldn't answer.

I just stared intensely at her, trying to find where I knew her from. I could feel it on the edges of my awareness, but every time I sent a feeble probe there, I encountered a wall that burned my mind to its touch and I was forced away. What the heck?

"Jay?"

I found my lost voice. "I know you from somewhere." It wasn't a question anymore. And I wasn't quite aware enough to be frightened yet. "Where?"

She blinked, rocking on her feet and putting a hand to her chin in the form of 'The Thinker'. "Hmm... I don't really remember ever seeing you before..."

"I know we've met," I pressed, expression deadpan, voice flat.

"Why? Where do you remember me from?" she asked. Before I could answer, she trotted calmly offstage and stood next to Alexis, so I was forced to raise my voice a bit and follow her.

"I... don't know," I admitted as I approached her, frustration seeping into my voice. "But... just then... on stage I had a... uh..."

"Great job guys!" a voice forced—its owner's smile tight. I looked up at Alexis Rhodes and saw that an undefined anger was bubbling in her hazel eyes. I cringed at that, but then forced my own smile and enthusiasm.

"Yeah! It was really fun! Right Dri?"

"Right-O Jay dear!" she responded, weaving her arm around mine and grinning.

Heat rushed into both of our faces for entirely different reasons; Alexis ready to burst and me feeling distinctly conflicting emotions. The air gained tenseness, adapting to our hostile meeting, and Atticus seemed to sense this from his spot on stage because he called his sister up to sing.

"You were saying?" Driana prompted when I took my arm out of her grip and sat down away from being in the spotlight.

I was silent for long enough to make us both uncomfortable, trying to gather my wits. I was finally alert again, but I still did not know how to react to what I had just witnessed. I didn't want to react, but I had to if I wanted to keep whatever sanity I had left.

How could I just see myself somewhere else completely and try and ignore it? I may be able to push aside—thoughts—but I can't just turn a blind eye to... hallucinating?

"Alright, this is gonna sound crazy," I started, sighing.

I didn't want to tell her. But I had to.

"The world's a crazy place," she responded, waving me on.

"Right... while we were singing... it was like... um... I was just transported somewhere else. I could hear other people, I could see things and I could feel them, and it even smelled different. I couldn't remember the crowd or that I was in Duel Academy or Alexis or Syrus or any of the others. And I could see the lyrics on the screen, but it didn't bother me at all... I couldn't really feel anything... like... negative for more than a few seconds."

An amused twinkle lit up in her eyes. She didn't believe me. "Where were you? Describe it."

At least she was humoring me. I took another steadying breathe to push down the irritation. Did she realize how hard it was to tell _her_ this? Was she _blind_?!

Hands curled into fists. Nails bit into the hand.

"I... it was a really big room, the floors were marble and everything just looked really fancy, there were a bunch of red curtains over these big windows... and there were two people. A man and a woman. The man was playing piano and the woman was holding onto him—hugging him. And we... you and me... we were younger... maybe eight-ish? And we were learning how to sing and dance or something..."

I trailed off, thinking about it myself. Why in Ra's name would I be taking those lessons anyway? My parents may be well-off, but it's not like they've taken any time to make me learn 'proper etiquette' anyways.

(Thank Ra for that)

She was quiet and reflective as well, her eyes focusing on Jesse as he pulled Blair out of the punch bowl. I would have laughed and wondered what had happened to her, but I couldn't find the strength in me to do so.

Nails softened. Hand relaxed.

"Do you remember anything else?" she asked, her voice hushed. I looked over at her, trying desperately to understand why she sounded solemn. But I couldn't. That just seemed to be what everything was coming down to these days.

Things I couldn't do.

"You had blue streaks," I shrugged, running my fingers an inch from one of her short locks. "I'm not going to lie to you; this has me really freaked out. I don't understand what happened at all—actually I don't understand what's still happening. Please, if you can give me anything, it would help me a lot."

"Do you remember this?" she wondered.

"What?"

She played with her skirt and then looked up at me, suddenly shy. What was she going to—?

She kissed me.

* * *

**Purrs...**

**I is so evils...**

**(ducks as a tomato is thrown at my head)**

**Eek! At least wait until Jaden's reaction to start throwing nasty fruit at me!**

**Review please!!**

**AxJfan**


	15. Performance Part 3

**Hiya Guys! **

**Sorry that it took so long again. The usual excuses, yada, yada, yada. **

**So I'm updating twice to make it up to you guys!**

**(coughcoughTheChapterWasTooBigForJustOnecoughcough)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gx. I also do not own any of the songs in this story. Go figure.**

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* * *

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**(Jaden POV)**

For a second I didn't do anything.

All I could do was widen my eyes in surprise, my skin frostbitten where she was touching me. What was this? Why is she—? I thought that she wouldn't—? She—?

She pulled away, her chap stick leaving the evidence against my lips. My mouth opened and closed, in as much shock as the rest of me. My lips tingled. They were crying out for her to do it again, to press her soft skin against mine so that they could move in response, so they could fit together like lost puzzle pieces—but my mind yelled at them for wanting it. This was bad. Not good.

What do I do?!

"Err... uh..." I breathed, my hand finally fluttering upwards and brushing against my wailing lips. The other made its way over my fluctuating heart, feelings its wild pounding against my ribcage. I inhaled too much air and let it out too quickly, and then I took a much too slow one. It dropped slowly, coming to a steady beat, and I breathed again, though the air I was gulping was anything but comfortable.

She wasn't even looking at me anymore; she was staring off into the stage as Atticus talked to the Academy. I noted that his expression was just as thunderstruck as mine, and just as worried. His eyes flickered towards Alexis, who had also seen. There was a tight silence in the crowd, and I knew that some of the students must have seen it as well.

They all saw my first kiss.

They had seen her lips press up against mine, soft as a downy feather, and stay there for seven dangerous seconds. They had seen how they matched, practically fitting together.

Now the news was spreading like wildfire, each person fanning the flames with their baited breathes, guiding the path along through the crowd, until it engulfed every single one of their minds and set its heat on us. All eyes were on the two of us once more. It did not feel right this time.

I coughed weakly in the smoke of their gazes, trying to find a way out without hurting Driana's feelings even more than I already had. But how? She loved me! I couldn't do anything with her—I was going to leave!

The fire was extinguished by Artemis, who delivered drinks to us once more. She called our performance "Slick" and then walked back into the crowd, which dissolved into murmuring ashes.

We sipped at the punch to sweeten the air between us. I kept my glance on her hands, watching as they played with the lip of her plastic cup in a rhythmic pattern. She was thinking, as I should be. But I couldn't, I could only draw a blank! She KISSED me! What was I supposed to do?!

"W-why did you...?" I whispered myself, not daring to be overheard by any of the eavesdropping front row students. She was quiet, not meeting my gaze still.

Guilt ate at me. This was the last time I was going to see her and I end up hurting her badly. I'm such a horrible friend. Why did she have to go and...?

"You shouldn't have to ask," she replied quietly, respecting the barrier between us and the crowd. We didn't speak after that, we opted out for watching Atticus as he lowered himself into the audience again, buzzing with the rest of the student body. Everyone was alert, their attention divided between the spinning song choices and us.

She started talking suddenly, the words coming out of her mouth like a river that had been released after being dammed back. "When I was younger, my parents were going to take me to this fancy ball thing. And they wanted me to be able to dance eloquently in front of all of their associates, so they put me in a dance class. It was a small, private class. There was always only one boy and one girl so they could learn to dance properly with each other and their progress could be watched closely."

I raised an eyebrow, not comprehending. She sounded so random right now. Like, OK, she just kissed me and I didn't do anything so she's going to tell me a story about dancing?

What the heck?

"But one day, we drove the boy home from class and we were going to hang out, we were really close friends. But we were in a car crash. When I woke up, I was in my home with a splitting headache and I couldn't remember how I had ended up there."

I scowled, not liking where this was going. Then it slid off my face. _Get a hold of yourself Jaden. She can't help the way she feels. It isn't her fault that Haou..._

She didn't notice.

"My parents told me that I had been in an accident. We went to the ball three days later, and I could dance very well suddenly. I was confused, so I left my partner and sat on the sidelines. Eventually I remembered."

She paused, and I could tell she was looking at me through the black bangs that covered her sapphire eyes. Was she waiting for me to comment?

I couldn't find anything to say, knowing that whatever I said would only make it worse in the end. The muscles around my shoulder blades constricted me, creating even more discomfort. I felt a vein in my neck twitch from its place before pumping harder, working my heated blood to my brain to try and get some answers flowing. There were none.

"I confronted my parents and they said that my partner had survived the crash, but he did not remember anything about me at all when he was questioned about it. His parents moved away then for some reason, and I never saw him again. I do remember something though... One day, when we had started to sing during one of my lessons, that the two of us made a promise. That was our last lesson."

"What was the promise?"

Like I couldn't figure that out.

"We promised that the next time we saw each other we would dance and sing together so we would always remember when we met. And when I asked him how we were going to recognize each other, he said that one of us would kiss the other, and that way we'd know it was our partner." She laughed quietly and without humor. "Neither of us really knew that much about kissing back then I guess..."

I didn't add anything. The students were buzzing again, having caught snippets of the story. They sparked a smaller fire this time, waiting for my reactions to feed the hungry flame.

The sad, sad truth was I was too tired to properly muster up any emotions other than frustration and confusion. Neither of these was going to do me any good in this situation...

"So Jaden... are you him?"

And above all, above all the worry and concern and fear and hatred that I felt tonight, there was one thing that scared me the most...

I wanted to tell her yes.

I wanted it so badly. My heart was throbbing again, pulsating the irrepressible longing through my already charged body. My arms were aching in their place, longing to hold her. My hands were twitching around next to my legs, needing to touch her. My eyes were commanding me to turn my utmost attention on her and tell her with my entire soul yes, yes, YES!

It terrified me.

So I denied myself all of my wants and needs, trying to keep my rebelling body in line. I reminded myself again of the lonely road I was about to depart on, although it only brought more hurt into my system by the mere thought. I would only be hurting her more if I kissed her back. It was best that I didn't.

Besides, I didn't remember anything that she was talking about. I couldn't lie to her.

There was that pause between us expanded, and Alexis started to sing.

**"Something always brings me back to you. It never takes too long. No matter what I say or do I'll still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone. You hold me without touch. You keep me without chains. I never wanted anything so much than to drown in your love and not feel your rain."**

Another deep breathe of poisoned air. The students leaned forward, their focus on my answer. Like I really needed all of their pressure on me too. GAH!! I hated this! Why can't everything just go back to normal?!

"Dri... some of your story... it makes sense with what I saw... but... it doesn't feel right to me," I admitted, though it sounded harsher than I intended. I tried to fix that with, "I feel like there's something more to it than that..."

She took a drink from her cup slowly and deliberately, thinking over her next answer. "Maybe... there was more. But I can't remember all of it Jaden. I don't even remember what my partner looked like; my parent's didn't have any pictures. But..."—she looked up at me—"I feel very safe around you, and I feel like I really know you. I think you are him Jay... it makes sense doesn't it?"

**"Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity. Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be. But you're on to me and all over me."**

It did. But for some reason, I knew that she was lying. But why would she lie about something like this? What was there to hide?

Though I didn't remember anything about a car crash or a dance class or being hospitalized or anything... but I wouldn't, would I?

It all just felt too convenient...

**"You loved me 'cause I'm fragile. When I thought that I was strong. But you touch me for a little while and all my fragile strength is gone."**

I sighed, calling myself paranoid once more. It was an answer that I wanted to accept, but I couldn't because I thought it was too simple. I knew things didn't have to be complicated to be right.

But I felt that her answer should be complicated, should explain everything that was happening to me.

I don't want to leave her. I don't want to leave Alexis. I don't want to leave anyone. Life without them... there is none.

But Driana Danchou was just an ordinary girl, nothing more, nothing less. She didn't have the answers I needed.

Why did I feel so sure that she did?

I looked upwards to tilt the tears of bitterness and disappointment back into my head. I wouldn't let myself shatter after all of the work I did to prevent it. Especially not in front of Duel Academy. My bangs fell, but I didn't remove them, thankful for their coverage from prying eyes.

**"Set me free. Leave me be. I don't wanna fall another moment into your gravity. Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be. But you're on to me and all over me."**

"I don't know Driana," I finally blurted out, refusing to look at her. If I did, she would know that everything that happened next would be a big lie. She would know that I wanted to return her feelings, and she would also know that I had feelings for someone else as well. She would know that I was going to leave; she would know that there was something horribly wrong with me.

She would know what to say to keep me here.

And as badly as my bleeding heart cried out for her to ask me to stay, to weep out her eyes for me, to force me to remain in the place I loved, I kept my gaze firmly at the ceiling. I breathed deeply again, regaining my courage and stubbornness. I would not let her see anything by looking at her. I would be strong for everyone. Their happiness was more important than my own...

**"I live here on my knees as I try to make you see that you're everything I think I need here on the ground."**

She reached out and held my hand between hers.

I removed it.

**"But you're neither friend nor foe though I can't seem to let you go."**

She finally spoke up again. "Jaden... I..."

Finally, I turned.

She faltered.

**"The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me... down!" **

"You?" I prompted simply, hating myself. I was tired, and I just wanted to go to bed and fall asleep and wake up tomorrow and have everything be normal again.

I was tired, so tired...

**"You're on to me... on to me and all over..."**

"What if I told you a secret of mine? Would you tell me one too?"

"Huh?"

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Driana... where did this come from all of the sudden?"

"You're sad! I want to make you happy again!"

Good luck.

"Hmm... I am deathly afraid of spiders," she started, shuddering slightly. "Wait—that's not good enough, hang on a sec!"

"Dri, I'm really not in the mood for this..."

"When I was in the Prep School for DA, I had a major crush on Zane Trusedale. I nearly fainted every time he talked to me!" she chirped, excited over nothing. "Come on! Your turn!"

"Dri..."

"Stop being such a grouch! This isn't the Jaden I know and love!" she grinned.

There was an awkward pause between the two of us again. We sipped out punch to try and fill it, and she started to tap out the beat of the music Alexis was singing with her index finger.

**"Something always brings me back to you... It never takes too long..."**

It seemed that she had let me out on her own. She wouldn't pry for an answer tonight. I almost thought that I loved her for it. Almost.

"Hmm... A secret?" I whispered dramatically, blinking when the room spun a bit and I nearly dropped my empty cup. Could I really repair all of the damage I had done by answering this question? Why was she letting me wiggle free of this? She just kissed me and I didn't do anything back! Why isn't she angry, crying, sobbing, distressed, making me even guiltier than I already feel?!

Is it because she loves me? Is that the power that's keeping her together? But how can that be when her love is _ripping me to shreds?!_

"Or something no one else knows!" she responded.

"I really hate big houses."

"I think that Atticus gets manicures!"

"Huh?"

"He has such shiny nails! Haven't you noticed?"

"No?"

Any other night I would have laughed. This night was too long, too afraid of the revealing light of the morning sun to allow me to.

"Your turn."

"Winged Kuriboh is my duel monster spirit."

"I knew that already—heck, the entire school knows that!"

"Fine! I was once sucked into an alternate dimension with Professor Banner and Syrus and Chumley and Alexis and some monster cards poked me in the butt with a spear. It hurt."

She laughed in response, her arms clutching her rib cage, and Duel Academy took that as a positive sign. The fire was back, and its smoke was beginning to make my eyes water again.

I looked at Alexis onstage to try and escape it, but failed. Watching my other crush sway to a burning crowd did me no good, especially when I could see the reasons behind all of her exaggerated behavior. Alexis was hurting too, though I didn't know what it was from. However, I did know that it was only a matter of time before the flames smoked out everything that I kept buried.

They were quickly catching fire in my mind, demanding to be released in any way that they could, burning me when I kept them trapped firmly inside.

She didn't need to know that I had a crush on her, just like Driana didn't need to know. Alexis wouldn't have cared much anyway; she did not want to date me after all. If I told her before I left I would only be making her guilty. And I was experiencing that wretched feeling right now, and I wouldn't ever wish it upon anyone else.

Especially not my friends. They would be sad enough without me...

_Please, if someone up there can hear me, let me stay here... let me stay with my friends... please..._

**(Alexis POV)**

Seething, I watched as Driana glided her way over to my object of affection and struck him dumb with her voice. So what? She could sing—big deal!! It's not like he should look so stunned about it!! It's no freakin' big deal!!

My mind told me firmly to look in the opposite direction; I was supposed to be ignoring these feelings. But my body had different plans. My gaze was dead set on that girl's blue-streaked head, sending her death rays as hard as I could. Then, of course, Jaden suddenly was singing incredibly well.

What? Was this girl some kind of freaky Mary-Sue who could turn everything into sparkles and rainbows?!?!?

My gaze shifted to the brunette as he started to return the dance that Driana had offered, trying to read his face. There was no way that Jaden really knew how to dance; he was not by any means graceful. So how was he...?

My anger faded. Something in Jaden's face wasn't quite... right. His expression was vacant as he looked down at her with his forced smile. Frowning now, I continued to watch him. He moved and sang, but his eyes just looked so distant.

For a split second I worried that he was being taken over by something—the light, the shadows, whatever—but then he stuck out his tongue at her. That was a 100 percent Jaden move. Maybe it was just the lighting that was making him appear so out of it...

Yeah... that's probably it.

But then why does Driana look so full of life? Her eyes definitely are alert, and her expression... it's weird to put it lightly. She's surprised and yet not surprised, and concerned, but triumphant. What the heck is going on here?

Then he dipped her, their faces getting WAY too close for my liking. My nails practically cut open my skin and I almost bit my tongue off. They stayed in that position until the audience remembered to clap instead of gape at them like fish out of water. Then they separated a bit and bowed. As Atticus said a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that no one really cared about, Jaden spoke with his partner quietly off to the side, his face dead serious.

Yes, something was wrong. Jaden was only ever serious when there was danger coming. But why would he tell her about it and not one of us? We've only known her for a little while—for all we know she could be trying to seduce him or something!!

I mentally smacked myself as they started to approach me. Stupid, she's not doing that. Stop letting your jealousy get the better of you Alexis.

I bit my lip, thinking that Jaden would have said the something similar in a little pep-talk. If he noticed—which he did not.

"Great job guys!" I managed to force out. But she was still holding his hand, so it was all I could do not to run right out of here sobbing or punch her in the face. The latter was more appealing.

"Yeah! It was really fun! Right Dri?"

"Right-O Jay dear!" she responded, weaving her arm around his and grinning.

I felt my face heat up as the blood rushed to it. It only got worse when Jaden blushed, a light pink color across his nose and cheeks, and looked a bit uncomfortable. Oh? I couldn't be here while she latched onto you, huh Jaden?! It was PRIVATE?!

I glared at them, my brows deeply furrowed, my vision blurred by my lashes, though I was trying as hard as I could not to alarm Jaden. The air responded to my hostility and his uncertainty. Atticus seemed to sense this from his spot on stage because he called me up to sing.

He started flapping his gums once more, but I didn't care. I could only watch as Jaden sat down next to that girl and continued the conversation that I had effectively cut off. His eyes flickered around briefly before they became dead-set on the striped teen.

I couldn't make out what they were talking about from this spot, but it didn't take Bastion to guess at it—especially when she tilted her head up and pressed her lips delicately against his, as if she feared he would shatter.

The pain that came from that simple touch... it was horrible. She had dug her claws right into the only part of me that I couldn't shield off, and she had ripped it apart; shredding each individual section into microbes and scattering them into the night wind, never to be seen again.

She had stolen my first crush, and perhaps the only one I will ever have for that matter. How could I possibly compare any other human to him? He was unique and beautiful, a sun whose colors stood out brightly against the washed-out world. No one else was like him. No one else had ever made my chest pang the way that he did. No one else brought heat into my face and made my hands tingle with a simple touch.

He was too... too perfect...

And I had lost him for good.

But then again, he certainly didn't look thrilled with what she had done. Why wasn't he smiling softly down at her, cupping her pretty face in his hands, and kissing her on the lips in return? He loved her—why wasn't he acting like he did even though it had been blazing so passionately in his eyes earlier?

Hope planted a weak seed in the wasteland of my heart, shining down my sun's rays onto it, and willed it to grow into something beautiful. I tried to dig that poisoning seed back out with all of my might, reasoning that he hadn't left her after she did that, so he didn't have much of a problem with it. And he was still looking at her carefully, as if he was trying to memorize every contour of her eyes.

His hand was over his heart now and he closed his eyes as she looked away. Concerned for him, but livid at her, I sent a glare, and was surprised when she looked up at me and gave me a look that froze me to the spot. It was so hateful, so utterly and completely wrong on her face that I thought I had imagined it.

It was like she was angry at herself for doing what she had done, but she was angry at me too, and she was angry at Jaden, and she was just angry at everyone! But then Jaden turned back to her and...

I blinked and it was gone; she wasn't even looking in my direction at all.

Get a grip Alexis!

I must be imagining things after all. But—oh Ra!—I was so heated that I wished I hadn't been seeing things. That way I had a good reason to go over there and beat the crap out of her with my duel disk—no! No, don't think like that Alexis. Jaden. Loves. Her.

It hurt to think it.

The music started to play, and I was relieved to have an outlet for my anger. I'd give anything to duel some snobby Obelisk right now, but screaming into a crowd of drunk-ish students was a close second to relieving anger.

The song choice didn't help. It was slow and meaningful, one that I had fallen in love with when I was a little girl. I used to sing it to Atticus all the time. "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles.

I sang as loud and as powerfully as I could; ignoring the probably soon-to-be couple off to the side in favor of the words on the screen. I danced and swayed and did things that in this dress that shouldn't have been possible, all for him. Couldn't he see what he was doing to me? He was making me go insane!!

I needed a better outlet than this after all...

Why was I feeling all of this about a simple crush?

No—don't even go there Alexis. Just focus on the song. He's happy, that's all that matters...

And when the music ended much too soon and the twice-surprised Duel Academy applauded me—Atticus didn't want me to sing with him just because I was pretty. They were just sitting there, Driana laughing over something.

Jaden looked horrible. She probably couldn't see his eyes from her angle, but I had front row seats to the melancholy of Jaden Yuki. He just looked so... devastated. So... sad... pleading almost. What was wrong with him?

"Hey guys," I said weakly. Jaden looked at me and tried to smile. He only managed to plaster falsehood across his face. Why, after all of my efforts, couldn't I make him smile again? Why was fate playing with me in such a way? Why was I being punished for having feelings for him? Why did he have to meet her? Why—?

"Driana Danchou! Would you care to honor us with a song while my highly trained team of counters tally up the votes?!" Atticus called suddenly and incredibly loudly. She jumped out of her skin and gave a little dainty nod before rising (and yanking down her dress when it hitched up in the back) to the challenge. My shoulders squared, but Jaden didn't seem to notice that her butt had been showing. He hadn't even looked.

Oh Ra his non-pigheadedness was one of the reasons I even liked him so much...

"Hey Alexis," he finally said. "Take a seat!"

"Ugh," a new voice started, setting down a tray containing several cups of punch in it. I looked up and saw Artemis shaking her head in disgust at Atticus. "Your bro is really annoying hon. Can't he just set up another table or something instead of having me ferret all the drinks around like some hot serving maid? Oh, and kid, Jaden."

He reacted a bit slowly, taking his eyes off of a fan-boy mode Chazz in the crowd to acknowledge her. "Hmm?"

"Generally when someone kisses you, you kiss them back. Unless you don't like them of course. So, do you like streaky or not?"

He made a strangled sort of sound before spluttering incoherently. "Um... uh... well...uh..."

His eyes darted quickly to me before he looked at Artemis again. I didn't really get why he'd glance at me. Unless... did he know what I felt about him and didn't want to hurt me by saying he liked Driana right in front of me?

That was sweet of him, but at the same time I wish he wouldn't do it. I was strong enough to handle rejection. Who did he think I was?

_Well you're obviously not who he think you are. He thinks you're Alexis Rhodes. And right now, you certainly aren't acting like her._

I was really beginning to hate my conscious. Then—wait.

_HE KNOWS?!?!_

I took a cup of punch and gulped it down to prevent myself from screaming. So what if he knows? So what if he...

I bit the lip of the cup before setting it down next to me, feeling a bit disoriented. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the feeling as Artemis spoke up again. "Pfft, you don't have to answer yet kid. You have till the end of tonight. Have fun. I'm just going to leave this tray here. Drink responsibly..."

Then she left, leaving her last phrase buzzing in and out of my ears. Why in the world would she say that? The answer hovered around my head, but I couldn't quite grasp it. Even when Driana opened her mouth and started singing again, it wasn't enough to pull me back down to earth. Was there something wrong with the punch? What would be wrong...?

Wait. I know this one. It starts with an "s"...

"Hey Jay, do you notice anything weird about the punch?" I asked on the off chance that he'd know something. He blinked at me incomprehensively, coming out of his deep thoughts.

"That's a random question!" he told me, looking away and stretching, though his muscles didn't loosen in the least bit. I felt my face heat up.

I thought blearily that was the only thing he was going to say, for he was quiet and seemed to be listening to Driana as she sang some song that I didn't care about.

I really suck at being happy for her and Jaden. I need to get better at this.

"You know... I did see one of the students working around here pour something in one though. I think he was trying to sweeten it up with all of that sugar he dumped in there," he added suddenly, looking back at me. The look in his eyes just made me want to hug him until he was back to normal, no matter how good he might be at making himself sound happy.

I repressed a sigh at that, but resolved myself to dig out the nagging thought in the back of my brain. It was burning hot, telling me something important, but I couldn't get to it.

Then...

"He spiked the punch?!?!"

Jaden turned, still having enough wits about him to catch my angry tone. But he was slow, of course he would be, he's tipsy! Maybe even full-on drunk! That's why he didn't really react when Driana kissed him! That's why I'm feeling so fuzzy!

I'm almost drunk too!!

"What does 'spiked' mean?" he asked finally, his brow creased.

I started laughing. I couldn't help it. He just sounded so innocent and naïve, how can he be though when he's drunk? How can he not know what it is when he is it right now?

"It means that someone put something in our drinks that'll make us act crazy," I answered, my euphoric mood gone. I shook my head, desperately trying to clear it. The last thing I need to be is drunk tonight. I have to have my wits if I'm going to make it through pretending that I'm ok with Driana and Jaden.

"Crazy like... hallucinating?" he asked suddenly, his eyes becoming grounded. How did he do that? My head was floating again...

"Hallucinating? Maybe. I guess. Depends on what the student put in. Most likely yes though. Why?"

A relief washed over his face, draining tension that he been so deeply rooted in him for so long that I had stopped noticing it. I found that I really didn't care why anymore. 'Sides, he wasn't exactly offering me an answer. Humph. Maybe it was a good thing that I was buzzed. I didn't hurt as much anymore; this would be easier for me to fake...

He looked completely sober though, his gaze reflected inward now. He was struggling with something. I should help him.

I hugged him instead and giggled. I would probably _hate_ myself later for that, but it felt like the right thing to do at the moment. He jumped, coming back from orbit again, and saw me looking up at him with a smile on my face. He cocked his head to the side, his classic confused look.

"Come on Jaden, stop being so spacey. Let's just have a good time."

I was so proud of myself. Ten minutes ago I wouldn't even have been able to say that. His expression changed quickly, like pages in a flip book, before he settled for a tiny smile and wrapped his free arm around my shoulder.

"Yeah... some fun would be great..."

He whispered it, almost to himself, and his gaze drifted towards our circle of friends. He looked unbearably miserable from this angle, his eyes soft, his bangs hanging over them, his grip slack. Taking a breath, he returned to me and helped me stand up. We both stumbled a bit and I started laughing, clutching him so we wouldn't fall over.

"I've never seen you clumsy before Lex," he told me as Driana handed back her headset to Atticus and walked towards us. I laughed at him and at the girl's expression as she watched us.

"The punch is spiked," Jaden informed her.

"Oh-kay," Driana replied.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE NOT COUNTING?!?!" Atticus suddenly shouted, his steady voice ringing clearly over us. We all turned to him in unison like a well oiled machine. "Well guys, it seems that we'll have to take a short break because one of my counters is passed out and the other two are dueling outside!"

Jaden didn't even jump at the word "duel".

Now I was even more worried about him. Dueling was the one thing that brought him out, no matter what the circumstances are or how down he was. He's even pep-talked a shadow rider for Ra's sake! Why wasn't dueling sparking something in him? Why wasn't he challenging someone in response?!

"Jaden, aren't you going to go watch the duel?"

"Nope!" Jaden responded, his gaze drifting towards the stage and scowling.

"What?!" everyone who had heard that comment demanded shrilly. This was not Jaden Yuki. What in the world was going on in his head?!

"Why not?!" I exclaimed, turning so I could face him fully and look firmly into his chocolate eyes.

"Well, cuz it's already over," he shrugged.

"How do you know that?" Driana asked, her hands gravitating towards her hips.

"Kuriboh told me," was his short answer. She nodded, watching as the two of us walked in a semi-straight line towards the refreshment table. I wished I would have had more time to talk with Jaden off to the side instead of just hugging him. I already hated myself for just doing that. It was obvious that he was in horrible pain over something, and all I do is let my feelings for him influence me and cling onto him?!

This wasn't helping him with whatever was wrong, if anything it looked like I was making it worse. I tried to step away from him, wanting to help even if it meant sacrificing my own happiness, but he kept me in place with his arm.

Questioningly, I looked up to him, blinking when three Jadens were staring down at me. I was never going to indulge in alcohol when I was of age. This was just madness!

"You can't walk on your own," he told me softly.

"Jaden, what's wrong with you?" I whispered in his ear, sounding like an old broken record.

Atticus tried to untangle the two diva microphones that had miraculously decided to have a wrestling match while his two conscious counters came ambling onto the stage to tally up the votes.

"Don't worry about it Lexi," he said in response, picking up a cookie from the pink-clothed table and devouring it quickly. "Besides, I was just going to ask you the same thing."

Driana settled down onto the floor next to us, munching on a handful of chips she had taken. They crunched noiselessly in her mouth, making it easier for me to believe that it was just Jaden and me.

"I'll tell you if you tell me," I challenged, trying to straighten out but failing when the room started spinning. I made a grab at a water bottle and missed, so he handed it to me instead, his eyes dimly amused.

"You go first then," he challenged, shifting his arm so he was holding onto my waist. I think he changed positions to get a better grip on me instead of just holding my arm, but my body didn't quite comprehend. I squirmed, let out a squeak, and crumpled away from his hand. He blinked at me.

"Lex?"

His hand was still hovering a few inches away from my ticklish spot, ready to catch me if I fell.

"Why did you...? Are you ticklish?" he asked, his brow narrowing in confusion.

"No," I said as firmly as I could, though a little bit of a giggle escaped me. A feeble glint kindled in his eyes, and I waited for him to start tickling me mercilessly like he would have any other year. His hand even made a little motion as if readying itself for the attack.

But then a minute rolled by and he still hadn't started teasing me. I pursed my lips and took a step away from him, although I regretted being away from his body heat when a blast from the broken air conditioning nailed me.

He stood awkwardly, his hand still poised at the height of my waist, his eyes... strange. Driana was still avoiding eye contact by munching on her snack. I surveyed the two of them with as much focus as I could; trying to read what was going on here. I remembered what Artemis had asked Jaden, and decided that now was as good of a time as ever to ask them about the kiss.

I was really going to hate myself later.

* * *

**Onwards to the second-to-last part of Performance! And don't forget to review please!**

**AxJfan**

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	16. Performance Part 4

**Hit the back button! I updated two chapters at once! Go me!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gx or any of the songs used in this story.**

* * *

**(Axel POV)**

My target was finally leaving. "Bathroom," he told his group of friends.

One of them is offering to go with him.

I'm holding my breath, a patient predator cloaked by the shadows.

He refused. Good.

Why Viper wants me to duel Jaden Yuki, I have no clue. But it doesn't matter. Orders are orders. No matter how strange they are.

Viper wants Jaden to duel seriously, so I will make him. I witnessed how he duels today in the arena. He only duels for a good time, which means I'll have to up the stakes to get him to react accordingly. I will take his best friend and dangle him over the ocean with my training device.

I won't hurt him of course, I'm no killer. But Yuki doesn't need to know that.

He's walking towards one of the exits, the ones without a trip through the pathetic haunted hallways. I follow stealthily, utilizing all of my training, not that he'd notice or appreciate my silent art.

I can hear the voice of my father reminding me to stay focused, to let nothing distract me, to see everything. I frown.

The hallways are empty, but I cannot take him here. I can see camera lenses shining in the darkness. Viper is most likely watching me, or at least trying to.

I move to the blind spots. Now no one will know the small Obelisk is gone until I send Jaden my challenge.

He opens the door to the bathroom and enters. I wait until the camera is focused on something else to slip in. Once I do, I prepare myself to tackle him instantly, expecting him to be out in the open.

He's not. I see his feet from underneath one of the stalls. I move next to the door and wait.

It doesn't take him long. He comes out, completely ignorant of my position next to his exit, and hums a song from the party under his breath as he washes his hands. I watch silently as he dries them on paper towel and carefully puts the damp object in the trash. He completely faces the door.

He sees me. Almost screams.

I knock him out before his brain can tell him to.

Getting out of the school without being spotted is simple. Every living creature is getting drunk and stupid, even the staff. The cameras cannot catch me. I am a ghost to them, and the boy won't be making any noise.

The front doors. Fresh air.

Viper.

He is standing directly outside, waiting for me. He chuckles at the surprise that carves its way onto my face.

"Good," he says, pressing his index fingers together. "Why don't you bring him out to your training spot and I'll plant the note to Mr. Yuki?"

It wasn't really a question.

"Yes Sir."

* * *

**(Alexis POV )**

"So... Driana, Jaden..." they looked up at me respectively. "Are you two going out now?"

Driana stared at me like I had just killed a dozen sweet innocent kittens with a machine gun. Jaden didn't really seem to understand, his brow was all messed up again. "Going out?" he asked, his head tilting to one side. "Why would we leave? We've still got one song left."

I breathed heavily through my nose. "No Jaden... it means..."

Driana made a weird high-pitched noise as if she were trying to find the words to cut me off. Why? He was in love with her, madly in love with her, I had seen it! And she had apparently told him she loved him! Or did she not know he was in love with her? Is that why she didn't want me to finish my sentence?

But I had to now that I had started. Besides... this would make him happy again. To be with the person that he loves the most... that is what he deserves. And I can't give that to him, not now. Maybe later... when we've both grown up... I could love him then. But I can't now, and she can, so even if this means I am ultimately going to lose him...

"It means dating."

"Oh... like the stuff boys and girls do in American movies? Holding hands and kissing and blowing up cars and stuff?"

"Uh... sure."

He looked down at her on his right side. It was more of a glance really, because he didn't seem very eager to look at her very long, as if he was afraid that she would disagree with whatever he was going to say. Or maybe he didn't want to look at her for long because if he did he would say something different from what he wanted to say. Or maybe he would just get completely lost in her like he had when we first got here and forget to answer altogether...

"Err... Umm..." Driana hummed when he didn't reply. She played with her hands and looked up at him through her bangs, hope in her eyes. What was this? Shouldn't they have already established what was happening between them after she kissed him? Didn't Jaden say anything to her about it?

He must have! Even if it was rejection (which it obviously was not going to be he liked—loved—her) he would have told her outright instead of leaving her to wallow alone in confusion! That's just the way Jaden is! He would never cause someone that pain! But...

... he obviously had.

He took a breath in and gave me a look I would never forget. Not because it was horrible, not because he was angry at me, not because his eyes had lost any light that they had in them; it was because... he looked so... old.

I wondered how drunk I was again. It must have been WAY MUCH because I could easily imagine lines of stress and age swarming, his skin losing some of his youthful glow, his hair wispier. But only around his eyes. The rest of him was still young and handsome as it had always been.

Those eyes! I could have just stared at them for the rest of the night! Now that all of his joy and radiance had been stripped away, a whole new universe was playing out in front of me.

They were as dark as the supernatural, deep as the volumes of space, weary as a person who has seen and lived through far too much, wise as a creature with thousands of years under their belt. They were tragic as someone who has lost everything they love, depressed as someone about to end their life, and yet more alive than any force that could ever call Earth its home. They were aware of every little thing that transitioned around them, caught every subtle hint and gesture, and commanded such an undefined amount of power and justice within their depths that they left my hands shaking.

I had never seen such a horrifyingly beauty sight as this.

I was so mesmerized that I almost missed his answer to my question.

"No."

He drew the curtains closed, and his mind was blocked off again. I wondered why he had even shown me a glimpse of that beauty if he was just going to starve me off from it again. I would have wondered many things after, but his answer caught up to me and now I could only wonder about that.

"No?" I repeated. My hands were trembling at my sides.

"No," he confirmed, closing his eyes. I watched his mouth as he silently counted backwards from ten.

"B-but..." I stuttered, utterly confused. Why weren't they...?

I recalled watching him pull her off to the side and speak to her seriously. Danger was coming. He knew. So... that must be it. He won't put her in the line of fire by dating her. That must be it.

Don't get so excited then Alexis!

My heart ignored me, swelling at the chance that he might not actually love her in "that way". If he didn't love her, then he could still like me, and I liked him, so—STOP IT!!

That didn't change the fact that Driana was head-over-heals in love with him. That didn't change the fact that I couldn't love him now. That didn't change the fact that Jaden deserved someone who loved him before, now, and forever afterwards. That didn't change the fact that I vowed to myself to do anything to make sure he was happy, no matter what it meant for me.

But none of that changed the fact that I had feelings for him either.

I took a swig of water in hopes that it would wash away the bad taste reeking in my mouth. The uncomfortable air returned with vengeance, suffocating all three of us in silence.

None of us struggled or tried to break free from its slow death, we simply allowed it to engulf us. After all, we figured, if conversation was creating it and enticing it, wouldn't it just be better to keep it at this level before any of us made it worse?

We watched the counters as they sorted through a damaged box of papers and made a few different piles.

I hate this. I hate it with a passion.

With a quick glance at the two of them, I could tell they hated it too. Whatever danger Jaden knew about had better be pretty horrible if it caused this. If it was just some kind of fluke and there was no danger at all... I was going to use Chazz as a baseball bat and smack him upside the head for making all of us worry about him.

"DONE!!" one of the Ra Yellow counters exclaimed, patting a monstrously huge pile of papers. We all leaned forward, eager to be pulled away from our negative atmosphere.

"Really?" Atticus asked, giving the microphones one final tug and grinning as they untangled. "Me too! Well, let's see who the lucky pair/person/trio is/are!"

I sighed. My brother was still as insane as ever.

He jogged over to them and picked up a single sheet of paper from the biggest pile. His grin grew into the size of... of... well... a big grin. Then he swooped around dramatically, flourishing one of the diva microphones.

"We have a clear winner! I probably don't even need to say it to you guys so many of you voted for them!"

Them? A pair then. I glanced over at the others and saw that they had caught it too. Uneasy smiles were exchanged.

"As a matter of fact, why don't you all tell us?!" Atticus shouted, tossing his arms into the air and throwing his head back. I took a step to go out there and smack him for acting like such an idiot, but the force of the crowd's words brought my foot to a crashing halt.

There were a few chants of "Hawt Jaden!! Hawt Jaden!!" and "Bring out the sexy ladies!! Yahoo!". There were even a few chants of "Driana and Jaden! They totally ruled!"

But the predominant motion that rang through the throats of our fellow classmates was the very thing I had been hoping to avoid.

They were screaming my name, and they put Jaden's next to it.

Oh dear God.

Without further thought, Atticus darted over and seized Jaden and me by our wrists. I protested loudly while he pulled us onstage, digging my heels into the stage. Jaden just allowed my big brother to lead us back out in the spotlight, emptying his lungs with one drawn out breath.

Before I could find the need to apologize for asking about the kiss, Atticus shoved the microphones onto our heads again and hit the dreaded shuffle button.

I fidgeted in my clothing, and Jaden squirmed around in his own, both of us refusing to make eye contact with each other. The screen dinged.

"One Day" by Trading Yesterday appeared in obnoxious letters. "Special Duet Karaoke addition" appeared below it, and we both suppressed groans. This giant monster was Atticus' machine, so that means that he already knew that we were going to be partnered and he had even picked out a song for us. That, of course, also meant that he had personally edited that song. And let's not forget that also meant that Atticus had rigged the votes in the first place. I could just wring his neck right now.

"Are we going to dance?" I muttered at Jaden. He made a weird movement, somewhere between a shrug and a nod, and put his hands around my waist hesitantly.

"Umm... I don't know how well this'll go," he said, averting his eyes towards the screen for our lyrics. I huffed, unable to help myself.

"You were fine with Driana."

"Yeah... umm... but you're a bit... drunk?" he answered, making up excuses. I put my arms around his neck and resisted the urge to yank at his hair.

"I'm not drunk, just buzzed," I snapped back. "And I can hold my own on a dance floor. Why do you think I have a deck full of dancing monsters?"

The music saved him from having to answer.

.......

**Jaden's Part.** _Alexis' Part._ Both.

.......

**"If I could change the currents of our lives,"** he began, his voice shaking. My hands balled into fists as I continued where he left off.

_"To make the river flow where it's run dry."_ I felt my body tensing to the music instead of relaxing like it usually did. Jaden's grip on me loosened, his eyes darting over to meet mine. Worried. What right did he have to be worried about me while he's obviously dealing with something a lot worse than having unrequited feelings?!

**"To be a prodigal of father time,"** he sang, sounding better than the first line. Maybe I was overreacting. He hadn't sounded all too perfect at the beginning of his song with Driana.

_"Then I would see you tonight,"_ I finished, releasing the tension in my hands. They wrapped around the back of his neck instead, though the rest of me was still wound up.

Why was he holding back?! Why was he looking so nervous? What was going on in that head of his?!

He averted his gaze from me again to read the giant words. I watched as his eyes softened and his smile lines became more pronounced. I raised an eyebrow, but he didn't see it.

**"If I could find the years that went away."** His expression was docile as he sang these lines. Why?

_"Destroying all the cruelty of fate."_ I could have laughed. Wasn't I rambling about how fate had dealt me a crappy hand earlier?

**"I must believe that love could find a way."**He cringed at the "l" word, but carried on to help me with the final line of the first verse.

"Tonight."

We drew the last word out, both of us adding our meaning into it. The secrets melded together into a haunting note, ringing clearly above the din before us. Then we had a brief pause, just enough time for me to say:

"Relax Jay," I whispered. "We're doing fine."

"I know," he said. His eyes met mine. I smiled.

"Lonely finds me. One day you will come. But I'll wait for love's sake. One day to me, love," we sang, harmonizing just as effectively as he and Driana had. I smiled in spite of myself, shaking my hips to the steady rhythm. He moved in response, and we started dancing together. Neither one of us took the lead; we just melded ourselves into one fully functioning unit.

And he smiled.

**"If I could see beyond the here and now."**

It gained even more sparkling teeth, coloring the corners of his eyes with emotion.

_"If you could hear me calling you somehow."_

The words were becoming meaningless. All I could hear was his happiness. He was enjoying himself!

**"If I could know that love is reaching out,"** that word tripped his tongue again, but not his hands or feet. We spun around, nearly losing sight of the lyrics.

_"To find you with me tonight,"_ I grinned back at him, my feet practically floating. There was no sorrow anymore. There was just Jaden and me. We were together. He was holding me like I had always secretly wanted him to, and we were so close. We were singing words that touched our very souls with their reality. We were going to make it.

**"Then hope could make these promises come true."**

_"Beyond what I could say, what love can do?"_ It was my turn to fumble over love. What was it about that word that scared us so much?

**"With every moment leading me to you..."**

"Tonight!"

I made a move to spin outwards, amazed when his body reacted perfectly. He extended his arm and sent me outward to the tips of his rough fingers. His posture was flawless, though his eyes held no amount of a dancer's precision in them. Strange. I would have to ask him where he learned to dance when this was over with.

His duel-worn fingers beckoned me to return back to the fortress of his arms. I complied eagerly, twirling so that I landed right in front of his chest—his very bare and exposed chest. Heat rushed up my face as his hands settled down on my hips, careful to avoid my ticklish spot. His own cheeks were colored pink, but from excitement or the fact he had a clear view down my dress from this position, I would never know.

I only remembered we had to sing when his gaze left mine.

"Lonely finds me. One day you will come. But I'll wait for love's sake. One day to me, love."

Neither of us could sing love as powerfully as we did the other words, but the way we softened the word seemed to bring Duel Academy to different conclusions. I managed to catch a glimpse of Chazz, thunderstruck, and Atticus mouthing "I told you so" in the front row.

For once it didn't bother me. In this moment I could imagine that Jaden was mine and I was his. Just in this moment. This was all I could ever need.

**"I will stay forever here!"** he enunciated, reminding me again that I had to pay more attention to the song. His hold on me tightened ever so slightly and I was pressed up against him.

_"Until that one day comes!"_ I breathed out, stumbling over my lines with surprise. He laughed himself, ruining his next sentence with me.

**"P-praying time will b-bring you near!"** If it had been anyone else I would have given their hair a little yank for laughing at me. But this was Jaden, and I couldn't bring myself to ruin the good mood that we had risen into.

_"I'll wait for your love!"_

The music slowed. We mimicked it, holding each other even closer. Warm. His face was flushed with heat, his eyes overly bright. His smile was even bigger than it had been during his duel with Jesse earlier today. It nearly broke my own heart.

I was making him smile. Me!

**"If I could change the currents of our lives."** It was hardly above a whisper this time, but the microphone carried it across the crowd. We circled back to the beginning of the song now. Or maybe it was a new start, for anyone could tell that Jaden was feeling differently than he had.

_"To make the river flow where it's run dry."_ He lowered his head, nearly touching his forehead and mine. Sweat dripped down the side of my face. He was so very close...

**"To be a prodigal of father time."** Our bangs were weaving together, a mess of blonde and brown. My blush kindled a fire in me, and I could feel it transferring up through his arms and into his mind as well. He must know how I feel now if he didn't before.

_"Then I would see you tonight,"_ I murmured to him.

We searched each other gently, both of us finding things that we wished we hadn't. I knew now, gazing into those compassionate eyes that he shared my feelings. And I knew that he knew. But I still knew that his feelings for Driana we stronger. But he didn't seem to register that—not while our bodies were so close we were practically one person.

I pushed down my microphone when I realized there was another break in the song. He copied me.

"You look a lot better now," I told him, settling down to just swaying in place.

He paused. "I feel better." I was all too aware of his warm breath against my cheek, his chest against mine, his hair tickling my face.

"Why? Was it my awesome dance moves?" Oh my Gosh did I really just say that?! How much of that punch did I drink?!

A startled laugh escaped him. "No... It's just what you said before, right? We've got to enjoy ourselves tonight." A fragment in his eyes darkened as he completed his sentence, but I ignored it. He did stress "got to" and "tonight" slightly, but I didn't really worry about it. It was probably nothing.

We fell silent, expectant. Nothing happened.

My lips parted ever so slightly, his name forming on them without sound. He drew me closer still, the blush on his cheeks fading. This was just _too right_ to be embarrassing.

It was time to finish our song now. We pushed up the voice amplifiers, and we both knew that this would be it. This is the only time to tell each other—maybe even the only correct moment in both of our lives.

...But neither of us said anything.

"Lonely finds me. One day you will come. But I'll wait for love's sake. One day to me, love. Lonely finds me. One day you will come. But I'll wait for love's sake. One day to me, love."

**"One day to me, love."**

_"One day to me, love."_

But maybe we really didn't need to.

"I will stay forever here. I'll wait for your love."

The sweet music faded into a dull roar as the students cheered us on. The song was over, but we didn't move from our spot. We were both stripped down, all of our barriers shattered by a simple shared song. Although neither of us spoke, we listened intently to what the other's eyes were screaming.

I made the next move, resting my forehead against his. He was exactly my height. I hadn't noticed that he had grown until now. His smile dissolved into tight lips. His hands lingered on my thin dress, radiating and absorbing heat. He pulled his head back and one hand with him, grabbing mine with his other and raising it above his head like a victory in a wrestling match.

Duel Academy screamed back at us, hopeful, anticipating, and excited. They wanted something to happen between us just as much as the two of us didn't. Or at least, as much as the two of us told ourselves that we didn't.

He was still holding my gaze out of the corner of his eyes. He knew we had to end it and pretend like we hadn't witnessed what we had. I knew it too.

So I bowed with him. It was over, done. We had to leave everything out there on the dance floor. Any lingering feelings would only bring on disaster. It would only push forward a triangle that would ultimately collapse and leave only one connecting line left, and I already knew who would be on the other end of that line.

It would be the one that he truly loved, whether he realized who she was yet or not. I closed my eyes and walked offstage towards the distressed girl that held his heart.

It would not be me.

* * *

**(Grins to myself) **

**I'm having lot's o' fun messing with the characters, but you'll all be happy to hear that next chapter is going to throw us all back into the main plot of the story (which only reared its glorious head a few times so far)!**

**Yup. And I would like to take this moment to address the peeps who are taking the DrixJay moments too seriously:**

**Chill out dudes/dudets. I don't know how many times I have to say it, but I am AxJfan. I may be just a puppet to the plot bunnies running around in my head, but it is still my hand that breathes life into them.**

**And not to mention my AxJ oriented brain. **

**Please feel free to rant at me for putting Alexis and Jaden through all of this though, it is rather amusing.**

**Thank you for reading!**

**AxJfan**


	17. Mission

**(drags feet in)**

**I'm sorry for being so late in updating! Here's a long chapter as a present... I'm so sorry guys...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh Gx.**

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Mission

Jaden POV

The rest of the night was a blur.

I vaguely remember teaming up with an uncomfortable Alexis and a silent Driana to track down our original clothes. I recall that Atticus had hidden them up in an air vent, and that Alexis and Driana stood on my back so that we could reach it. I remember the angry sewing club when they saw the dirt stains on my jeans from the floor and the dust all over the girls' dresses. I remember walking out from behind the stage to be greeted by a roar of applause and several stunned compliments.

Past that point everything's just a mix of colors and excited voices. At one point I was separated from my friends and just let the crowd push me along, in far too much of a daze to do anything else. Eventually I was bustled to an un-haunted exit and led out into the hallway by a group of babbling Obelisk girls, praising me and gossiping as if I weren't even there. Occasionally they would pitch me a complicated question about my relationship with Alexis or Driana, and I would force a smile and scratch the back of my neck, falling back on the "just friends" line.

I'm not sure they believed me, and how could they when I didn't even believe myself?

Somehow I ended up back at the Slifer dorm, comfortable in my slightly dusty Slifer Jacket, and met up with the guys at the entrance, only to go through the entire process again. It took me half an hour to realize that someone was missing amongst them.

"Hey," I voiced, feeling coming into my sentence for the first time, "Where's Sy?"

"He said he was goin' to the bathroom," Jesse answered, lounging against the wooden railing outside of Chazz's room. "And then he sent us a message sayin' he was going to check in on Zane and then hit the hay."

As some form of proof, he pulled his PDA out of one of his many pockets and displayed the screen to me. I dug my hands into my own pockets and blew a strand of hair out of my eyes.

"I should go check on him," I said, speaking more to myself than the rest of them.

"No way Serge!" Hassleberry announced suddenly, thumping a big fist into his chest. "You're looking whipped from everything! You're going straight to bed and I'll go check on Private Trusedale!"

"Hassleberry, you don't have to..."

"Nonsense Serge! What kind of a friend would I be if I let you overwork yourself?! Off to bed, hup-two-hup-two!" he replied with a quick wave of his hands.

My own plans of betrayal echoed through my head. What kind of a friend indeed.

"Um ya'll, this is nice and all, but I'm the only other Obelisk here," Jesse pointed out with a big grin. "I'm the only one who can get into the dorms this late."

Hassleberry deflated.

"Alright, now that we've got Shrimp's babysitter picked out," Chazz began, scoffing into the center of the group, "I'm going to get some shut-eye. So keep it down out here Slacker and Dino-brain."

With that Chazz opened and slammed his door shut, leaving Bastion shaking his head and Hassleberry fuming. A bemused expression appeared on Jesse's face and he felt the need to ask, "Is he always like that?"

"Yes, so don't take it personally," Bastion answered, tugging up his sleeve to see the watch beneath it. "Well, he's right though, it is quite late. A little past midnight. We should all go back to our dorms."

I shrugged, even though I didn't want them to leave yet. I never wanted them to leave. "Night guys."

"Night Jaden," they chorused back, waving at me as they walked away. I watched them until they were just spots on the distance, delaying what I had promised myself I would do. Was this really the only way to protect them? Would leaving them really make them safer?

_"... He sent us a message sayin' he was going to check in on Zane and then hit the hay."_

Zane.

I sighed as I pulled open the door to my dorm, wishing Hassleberry or Jesse had decided to sleep over tonight so that I couldn't go through with this, so that I could have one more day with them.

I fell to a heap on my bed, not bothering to turn on the lights. When had things gotten so out of control? Driana and Alexis both... and I...? I was just about to put my arm over my head to hide from the world before I started packing when I noticed that the desk light was on.

That's weird.

I could have sworn Syrus and I turned that off before we left... or as a matter of fact, we never even turned that thing on. Then why was it blaring so brightly on a piece of scrap paper?

I sat up straight suddenly, completely aware that I was alone in my dorm. Without Syrus—who usually slept here despite his Obelisk status. And he hadn't been at the party with the others either. And he wouldn't just head in without telling us face-to-face, especially after everything that had just happened. He was the most paranoid out of all of us. Well, except maybe Chazz, but that's not the point.

Where is he exactly?

I made my way over to the lamp and felt my world crash to a halt once again. As my eyes scanned over each line, I felt my anger appear and grow with alarming hostility. All of my poorly concealed emotions splash across my face. My hands shook as I pocketed the simple note and dug my duel disk out from where I had tossed it after the match with Jesse. I turned off the light, sneaking out of my dorm as quietly as I had the night I had first dreamed of Haou.

For a moment I wondered if it was his presence that was creating this red haze of hatred that swirled around my vision. But I found I didn't really care as much as I should have. While Zane probably had deserved what had happened to him, I would forever be guilty about it and would probably never forgive myself for causing my friends so much pain. But I didn't know this person, and I didn't want to. Not after this note.

My feet pounded into the earth, footsteps echoing off snapped twigs and crunched leaves as Winged Kuriboh led me towards my best friend again. We were getting close; I could feel it in my gut. And when we got there, I would make sure he/she never tried anything like this again.

_**I would make him pay.**_

Because the letter read:

_I have knocked out your friend Syrus. He will be held hostage until you come duel me. If you can defeat me I will release him. However, it you bring your friends or let anyone else know, you will never see Syrus Trusedale again._

_Loss of this duel will result in loss of his life._

_

* * *

**3rd Person POV **_

**Secret Part of Animal Testing Facility**

"Are dance lessons all you could really think up?" Artemis asked lazily, the upper half of her body draped over the couch's armrest, painting her long nails idly. Her gloves rested on the base of her spine carelessly, exposing her mark to the world, shining in the dim tunnel lights.

Driana kept her mouth shut for a few moments, locking her knees together and looking in the opposite direction from Artemis, her own hands fidgeting in her lap. "Well how else could I explain him remembering the ballroom?" she finally asked, though her voice was quiet in comparison to the other's.

A roll of green eyes was the reply given, "Anything really. Your so-called explanation sounded like a bad fanfic. I thought you were better than that Danchou. Don't you remember anything I've taught you?" She finished with her nails, smirking with apparent satisfaction, then sat up and crossed her legs comfortably, lounging back into the sofa.

She remained silent for a long time, crossing and uncrossing her ankles agitatedly. Finally, she burst out, "He doesn't love me ok! I've failed! He loves that other girl—Alexis! All I'm doing is delaying him from realizing it."

"Sometimes that's all it takes," Artemis replied, unconcerned, now blowing on her dark green nails. "Boys are easy. Just give him a shiny new toy and he'll forget all about the old one." She waved one of her hands absently, as if dismissing the other girl.

"But he—!"

"—will fall in lust with you yet my dear. Just keep making sure to break his heart every time he sees you, he's one of those goody-too-shoes. Eventually he won't be able to take it anymore and give you a shot, and then you're golden," she finished, standing up and now waving her hands through the air slowly and deliberately. "If you want I'll be the one to truly break him. I can tell him that you're cheating on him with someone else if you want. Since you seem to be so worried about breaking his fickle little heart." But it wasn't a tone of kindness that entered Artemis' voice as she said this, it was of contempt.

"Artemis," Driana tried again, standing as well, "you saw what he was like when he dueled Zane. It was horrible; he didn't have any control over—"

"And how do you know that?" she interrupted again, striding through the small lounge area and towards the door that led to the hallways.

"What do you mean?"

"How do you know that he didn't _want_ to act that way, that he was pissed at little Zaney for hurting his friends so he hurt him back?" she answered, looking back haughtily over her shoulder, hand on the door knob. She ignored Driana's shocked face and stepped outside, calmly shutting the door behind her, and when the sounds of her heels clicking finally faded; Driana lowered her head into her hands and cried, because she knew Artemis was right.

She knew this was the only way.

* * *

**Jaden POV**

"Axel Brodie?" I asked with a lot of surprise as Kuriboh and I emerged from the forest to find the transfer student standing calmly before a cliff, one boot on a thick branch extended over the edge. He looked up coolly, seizing me up as if we were about to get into a fight or something.

And as angry as I had been before, I found myself too stunned to summon up the correct emotions. Instead of feeling worked up and ready to kick his butt, I was relieved that it was only a transfer student and not one of those goons that had been with Zane or had kidnapped Syrus before. He was a student for Ra's sake! Maybe this was just an elaborate prank or something...

"Where's Syrus?" I said when he didn't reply. He took another few steps towards me, still a good dueling distance away, and pointed to the overhanging branch. Or rather, a strange little device on the branch. "What's...?"

"This is my training device," Axel answered, his voice low and powerful, immediately drawing my attention. I was beginning to get the impression that he didn't speak very often, and when he did, I should listen. "It is a device that slowly cuts the rope while hanging at a high altitude. It is meant to help one hone their abilities to escape dangerous situations and to practice appropriate timing. I use it everyday to train my combat skills. However, tonight, your friend will be using it to test your skills, Yuki."

I blinked several times. "_What?!"_

Unbothered, he continued on as if he hadn't heard me speak, "I have tied him up to the other end of this. Throughout this duel, the device will gradually cut the rope. However, if my life points are depleted, it will pull him up."

I stared at him, completely lost. Why was he doing all of this to duel me? Was it like Zane said—did he think the only way for me to duel with my all was to put my friends in danger? Why didn't they understand that I gave _every_ duel my all, that it didn't matter if someone's life was on the line—that I put everything into my duels, even if they're only for fun?

Could it be that... that I don't?

"You didn't have to go through all of this to duel me you know, you could have just asked!" I announced, trying to draw the answer out of him.

"You must duel me with your all. This will ensure it."

A low groan sounded in the base of my throat, but my adrenaline began pumping higher all the same. The prospect of a timed duel, one in which my best friend could die if I wasn't fast enough, was nothing to take lightly. I had to be alert in this match...

I had to beat him at all costs.

"Is he alright?" I asked finally, placing my deck into the slot to be shuffled automatically.

"He is unconscious," Axel answered simply, pulling out his duel disk in one rough movement, surprising me again. It was obviously a custom model, shaped like a large gun with a trigger and everything. But it deployed like every other duel disk on campus, and just like the others, I would have to answer its challenge.

And I did.

"Duel!"

We drew our five cards respectively, assuming our battle stances.

"I'll start things off!" I exclaimed, quickly picking up my next card. There could be no delays in this duel if I was going to save Syrus. My cards didn't let me down. "Alright! I'll activate Polymerization to fuse Avian and Burstinatrix from my hand in order to summon... Flamed-Wingman!"

My favorite hero appeared as announced, flexing his wings powerfully and showing his claws to the opponent. He came to a rest at my side as I fingered my other two cards. "I'll place down two face downs, and that's all she wrote."

Axel assessed the situation from his side of the field, eyes cold and silent as he slowly drew his next card. Calmly, he activated his first play, "I'll play the Continuous Spell Card Blaze Cannon."

A large cross between a cannon and a gun appeared on his side of the field, aimed ominously at my monster. I stared at it, wary already. "What does it do?"

"By discarding a Pyro-type monster with 500 or less attack points, I can use it as a bullet," Axel explained, showing me a monster card that fit the criteria. "And that bullet will destroy one monster on your field."

"What?!"

"I'll discard my Volcanic Bullet," he continued. I watched in tense silence as the monster appeared on his field, immediately jumping into the loading station and aiming at me. My fists tightened. Should I use my second face down this turn or...?

"Fire!"

The bullet launched with incredibly speed, flaming light into the dark night sky. No time to think it out, I had to retaliate now.

"Not so fast! Trap card activate—De-fusion!" I called, pressing the button on my duel disk to use said card. Avian and Burstinatrix separated quickly, diving to the side to avoid the bullet's trajectory, safe.

"So you gave up your strong monster for two weak ones?" Axel muttered, possibly more to himself than to me. But I couldn't let that slide.

"My Heroes are not weak!" I rebuked, flaring my duel disk arm out violently. "And neither am I! I'll beat you to save Syrus—I swear it!" His eyes narrowed slightly, but otherwise his expression stayed blank. "What's your motivation for a duel like this anyway Axel?! There's no reason why you should be taking these risks just to duel me!"

"This is my mission," he replied levelly, "and I shall not fail it."

"Your..." I trailed off, frowning. "That doesn't matter—just leave Syrus out of this! He's done nothing to deserve this!"

"He is your best friend," Axel stated, examining my face for signs of weakness. He wouldn't find any, this I was sure of. "And thus he is the perfect target. But enough, this useless chatter is just wasting your friend's time."

A faint growl emitted from the back of my throat, bringing a swell of anger from the pit of my stomach. "Fine then, end your turn and watch me beat you!"

"I'm not done yet Jaden," he answered, much to my surprise. "Volcanic Bullet's effect activates when it is added to my graveyard. By paying 500 of my own life points I can add another Volcanic Bullet from my deck to my hand—so take this! Destroy Burstinatrix!"

I could only watch helplessly as she was nailed with the flaming monster, instantly destroyed. But I couldn't let him get to me. He had no monsters on his field and I still had Avian on mine. And I had the power of my deck, the will to save Syrus, and...

**_Me._**

I shoved down the shivers rising up my rib cage as Axel placed his facedown card and the duel turned to me once again. A quick check at Axel's life points was all I needed for reassurance, I was still leading this duel, and with every extra bullet he fired he lost more and more of his own life points without touching my own. I'd be fine.

"Draw!" I announced, demonstrating my confidence in the exaggerated movement. My eyes flickered over to the card and I grinned, the perfect card had finally come for this situation. "I summon Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab in attack mode (**Atk: 500)**!"

Recognition flared in Axel's eyes, and I vaguely recalled him seeing my duel with Jesse earlier, meaning he probably knew all about my monster's effects. Still didn't mean that he could stop them though—right?

"For every Spell or Trap card on your field, this guy gains 400 extra attack points, which brings him up to 1300 if I'm right!" I informed him, noticing how he was completely unconcerned about my monster and was simply staring into my eyes, trying to get a read on my face.

Then I understood. He didn't think I was going to attack—he thought that I was going to use an effect strategy to get past his facedowns like I had in Jesse's duel. As a matter of fact, this entire time he hasn't been preoccupied with his own plays, but focused on mine...

And his so called mission...?

It didn't matter; Syrus was still in danger, so I had to get this over with quick! But looking into Axel's deck and eyes made me hesitate, certain that he was not the kind of guy to resort to abducting fellow duelists just to duel another opponent... something wasn't right here...

But at that moment Syrus woke up, screaming in horror when he saw his own predicament.

"Syrus!"

"J-Jaden?! What's going on?!"

"I'm saving you buddy, just hang in there!"

"It's not like I have another option!" he shouted back, and I heard terrified tears in his voice. The careful reigns that kept all of my protective armor in place snapped, exposing myself and my enemy to the flash flood of deep black emotions I was constantly battling back. It didn't who Axel really was—he was hurting my best friend—someone who had been through far too much already in the course of thirty six hours.

He deserved to be punished, to be beaten to the ground, for endangering the life of a dear friend, for making him fearful enough to weep for his life. Snarling, I ordered my monsters to attack, attack, and attack without hesitation, ignoring the stricken look splashed across Axel's face.

"Avian! Direct attack!"

"So you went for the direct attack after all! You are nothing more than a fool!" Axel claimed unexpectedly, vanquishing all emotions from his features. "I activate the Permanent Trap, Firewall! By removing a fire monster from my graveyard and play I can stop your attack!"

Avian continued to strike regardless, responding with the rage battling within me. His claws connected futilely against a sudden geyser of fire, causing him to retreat quickly back to his place, shooting me an apologetic look. I nodded and then turned to my other monster, receiving a nod.

"Fine! Then take this—Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab! Attack him!"

"It's just the same thing!" Axel chided me, removing the second Volcanic Bullet from play. Sure enough, his attack was stopped in the same fashion as Avian, but he returned to my field triumphant. I had gotten what I wanted—now there were no more monsters in his graveyard.

So close. So close to the moment of contact. Adrenaline coursed its way through me and my eyes narrowed, darkness closing around the edges of my vision. But with everything twisting within me crying out to be released through the form of his pain, I found I didn't care. My opponent recognized this with a narrowing of his calculated eyes, readjusting his judgment of me and my deck. "In order to keep Firewall," he informed me, "I must pay 500 life points."

**Axel: 3000**

**Jaden: 4000**

"From my hand I play the Spell Card Fire Soul, so draw a card."

"I'll take that," I replied, willingly drawing. I glanced at my new addition and smirked. Perfect, Axel was one step closer to losing, and it was his strategy that was going to be his downfall. Alarm bells rang dimly in the background of my head, flaring with déjà vu of something long forgotten, but I ignored it. Axel deserved to be beaten by his own mistakes—the biggest one being Syrus of course.

"The second part of Fire Soul now takes effect," he said.

"Be careful Jaden!" Syrus cried out interrupting my thoughts and shaking me free from my own inner turmoil. Flinging away all of the darkness that I had allowed to gather within my heart, I forced the careful mask of confidence onto my face and threw together a hasty protective shield.

What had I been thinking? Why had I been thinking like that? Was I really... becoming like Haou?

Somehow that didn't seem like such a troublesome thought with more than half of my willpower devoted to punishing the man that stood so calmly across from me at all costs.

But Haou was a psychotic murderer!

Then again, I didn't really know that either. He actually had never hurt anybody to the extent of my knowledge—it was Zane's own stupidity that landed him in the hospital. And in my dreams... he claimed that it wasn't him who was hurting me... but myself...

But he also claims to be _myself_!

Then if he's me—how could he be evil? These thoughts were only here because they were justified—because someone was trying to put my friend in harm's way without any reasoning...

And I knew I wasn't evil... so then was Haou really...?

"Now I choose one Fire Type Monster in my deck from play and I can deal half of that monster's attack points as direct damage to you."

I blinked, coming back into sharp focus in spite of my shaking limbs.

_Pay attention Jaden, Syrus' life depends on this duel!_

**_I could help you. It is what I am here to do._**

He analyzed his deck with purpose, letting me onto the fact that he had planned out this move for quite awhile, which meant he was just playing with me. Wrinkles appeared between my eyebrows as my gaze became more heated, ignoring the feeling of fire as it danced around me, dropping my life points significantly.

Although I was pretending to ignore the voice resonating in my head, I couldn't help but notice he agreed with what I was thinking, and disliked it as much as I did.

**Jaden: 2650**

**Axel: 3000**

"To do a move like this... you've been toying with me," I repeated slowly. "Why is it that you aren't coming at me with your all? If you want me to fight using all my power, shouldn't you put in all of yours as well?"

As I spoke each word, his eyebrows began to rise, showing me his shock and exactly how hard he was trying to conceal it from me. "You act like a dueling fool... but when put in dangerous situations you speak strangely," he muttered, more to himself than me. Then louder, "Show me your true power and I shall show you mine."

_My true power..._

**_Our true power._**

I gripped my own sweaty palms, aware of his sharper gaze, worried that I had somehow let something slip once again. "What do you mean by 'I speak strangely'?"

"J-Jaden! Hello! Being slowly cut lower and lower to the ocean here! Help!"

I whispered his name, tightening my fists until my card bit into my already rough hands. My eyes ghosted down to the intense burns peaking out form under my sleeves and I came to a decision.

A decision I couldn't undo.

"You're on."

* * *

**Hassleberry POV**

**Duel Academy Halls**

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down girl, slow down!" Jesse shouted after five solid minutes of awkward silence between him and me. He had been ignoring me for five whole minutes, staring at his shoulder like he had been wounded in combat or something, and now he's hollering at nothing?

What in Sam Hill is going on here?

"Umm, who're you talking to son?" I asked, trudging through the halls of Duel Academy towards the infirmary, bent on accompanying the transfer student at least this far and then heading back to bunk with Serge.

Jesse's green eyes widened as he continued to listen to nothing, and he only managed to wave a hand in my general direction in response, the meaning clear. I repeat, what in Sam Hill is going on here?

"Jaden's doing what now? What did Kuriboh tell you?" he repeated slowly, holding out his hands in front of him as if holding a small invisible animal.

Kuriboh? Serge?

"First Chazz now you!" I exclaimed, pulling at my hair in agitation. "Don't tell me you can see these duel spirits too soldier!"

"Yeah, Ruby's here now! She says that Jaden's dueling someone who took Syrus again... that the message must have been fake! And they're both in trouble! Jay's in a tight spot with all of Axel's tricks and Sy's getting closer to the ocean!" Jesse exclaimed, making nearly no sense. But nothin' really made sense around here, so everything he said was probably true.

"Well what are we waiting for! March soldier!" I announced, running back towards the main doors, Jesse keeping up easily, head tilted to the side, obviously listening to Ruby Carbuncle.

All this duel spirit stuff was just not right for a soldier like me! I'm used to just seeing things as they are, and suddenly there are invisible duel monsters running around Duel Academy and such? And only some people can see them? Why was that?

And why the heck would they choose Chazz as someone who could see them?!

"I don't know how much I believe in this whole duel spirit business son, but if your Ruby can lead us to Serge and Private, then be my guest!" I verbalized, turning my head to the guy Serge had quickly befriended. He nodded, just as determined as I was to make sure Jaden turned out all right and that Private Trusedale wasn't too roughed up, which surprised me.

He was just like Serge! He was worrying about us all even though he just met us today!

"Alright, she says that they're out by the cliffs past the trees near the Slifer Dorms! Follow her—err—me!" he replied, bursting past me in an influx of speed that surprised me.

When I drew level to him again he was keeping this pace easily, his eyes set firmly on something in the horizon that I couldn't see, his face serious in the way that Jaden's was during the White Duels last year. He looked like he wished he could somehow help him out in this duel, and I wondered just how much this guy would sacrifice to help Jaden.

Really—what was the bond that propelled these two together? Is it possible that they knew each other before? Or maybe through Private Driana?

But that didn't matter, I remembered as we pushed through the campus doors and started cutting through the woods, dodging branches and thickets with precision that told me Jesse (or Ruby?) knew exactly where he (she?) was going.

So I was only half-surprised when we burst into the cliff areas and found our friend dueling against Axel Brodie, anger in his body language, obviously fueled by Syrus' cries for help.

"So there's no point in doing something like this anymore than, let him go," Serge stated, strangely calm as we came to a halt behind him, pointing towards a huge branch hanging over the cliffs.

"But you're not always good," the student replied, narrowing his eyes and saying nothing more on the matter.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, sounding just as I predicted.

"Perhaps your friends will know the answer."

"My friends? But the note said—" he began, perplexed once again, but we never found out what the note said, because Jesse interrupted.

"We're right here Jay," he piped up, startling Jaden enough to make him jump and whip around in a ridiculous display of confusion. "What? But how? How did you guys... Ahh... I see. Ruby told you Jesse?"

The addressed nodded in confirmation, jerking a thumb towards the creature that I couldn't see. This was a strange night.

And it was only going to get weirder.

* * *

**Jaden POV**

All of the blood in my body rushed to my head when I heard Jesse behind me. My initial reaction was one of relief; my friends were here, they could help—or at least bear witness to what was happening. And yet after we traded reassuring smiles between each other and our duel spirits, I remembered the note's threat more clearly. Any friends showing up meant he'd...

"Syrus!" I shouted, pivoting back to the duel, tensing up when I saw Axel take a small control out of his shirt pocket and hover his thumb over the big red button. It was kind of obvious what that meant. "No wait! Please! I didn't tell them what was going on—they came here on their own!"

Axel paused, his eyes sharp as he looked us all over, one by one, seemingly uncaring about the helpless beating of my heart. I hadn't thought that he would really do what he claimed to do; I had thought that he was just honestly trying to get me to duel by psyching me out, by _pretending_ that he would actually do in Syrus. I had thought he was a good person behind this hostile front, and I thought his calm dueling style had solidified it.

But now with his hand hovering over the trigger...

**_Then make him stop._**

_Wha? How?_ The thought had escaped me before I could realize I was breaking my code of silence with the darker half of myself, and he seized the chance to be acknowledged, not only by me, but by Axel as well.

**_By fulfilling our end of the deal._**

Before I could summon up the energy to deny my own anger and hatred it rose up within me, the muscles in my hands into small spasms, contorting them into fists so tight my palms began to bleed from the half moon marks of my nails. I could see the difference in the world around me, a sudden sharpening of looming objects overhead and around me: the definite shape of leaves in the starlight, individual branches of the tree in the moonlight, and my golden gaze reflected in Axel's twice surprised eyes.

He rested his sight on me, and I held it for a long moment, doing my best to silently plead with him, to search for the guy I thought he was. The world lost its hard edge once more, and I knew Haou's power had retreated back into the corners of my heart, his intent completed, but not over.

I knew that the longer Axel considered the unthinkable, the closer I was to truly losing myself once more, to becoming the monster that had attacked Zane, and quite possibly, actually being the cause of damage this time—and not by some previous heart injury. I knew that the perpetual sorrow I was doing my best to bury would overwhelm me, along with the anger and hatred that was being harbored next to it—that I would snap and destroy him in this duel, and that I would probably not be able to leave my friends for their safety.

I could not succumb—even if I told him that I would show him my power. I would do so without giving Haou the reigns. He would feel my anger, but not my wrath. I'd show him the power of the conqueror of the Light and Darkness—not of Haou.

But only it he took his thumb off that trigger.

Nothing.

That was it, no more toying around. I had to break past his defense and take out his life points soon. He really was going to hurt Syrus and my decision to show him exactly how strong I could be was now...

But he instead pocketed the device, saying simply, "I believe you."

The tension drained from my body slowly, only to be replaced as he placed two facedowns. This duel had been difficult to say the least. I had barely been able to find an opening to attack past his traps, and with Syrus' agitated screams piercing both the night sky and my heart, focusing was seriously becoming difficult to do.

"Jaden!" he screamed, sounding fearfully close to tears.

"What?! Is Syrus over the edge?! Come on Hassleberry, we've got to help him!" Jesse shouted, taking several anxious steps towards our distressed friend. I threw my arm out, catching him across the chest as he tried to barrel past me, my gaze locked firmly on Axel's.

"Jesse, if you get any closer, he's going to drop him," I said, my voice low and trembling. Axel nodded in agreement, his fingers ready to dive back into his pocket at a moment's notice. Suddenly Zane's face flashed before my eyes, in the same position as Axel was right now, and the monster within me raised its ugly head. The fingers across Jesse's chest closed into a fist. "So just stay back, I'll take care of this."

I felt the chill of his concerned gaze and sighed, trying to keep the tension out of my face. "But thanks for trying to help me here anyway."

"Jaden..." he whispered, touching my shoulder with one of his hands, eyes straying to the cliff's edge once more. He breathed out heavily, stepping back into place with Hassleberry, where he couldn't see my face...

I drew my next card, waiting for the moment when anger would melt my eyes gold permanently. There was already something stirring within me, a great force bubbling and bursting from all of the suffocating emotions running through my head. It was surprisingly easy to summon hatred.

Much easier than it should have been.

"I activate the Spell Card Fake Hero!" I declared, readying myself for this moment. Now was the turn to attack, to break past his defenses, to get one crucial step closer to saving Syrus...

Syrus...

"This card lets me special summon one Elemental Hero to my field this turn, and I chose Elemental Hero Neos!" I explained as my cross-dimensional friend appeared in a burst of stars, landing next to his fellow alien on the field, exchanging glances.

"But he can't attack this turn," Axel frowned, "and next turn he will just be crushed by the force of my Cannon. Is this all of the power you have to show me?"

I couldn't help but smirk. "No way. I activate Contact Fusion between Neos and Flare Scarab! So say hello to Flare Neos!"

Said alien appeared in the sky in a flaming shooting star, bold and ready to join the fray. I grinned toothily, satisfaction flushing through me. I'd get a hit on this turn no matter what; my deck had made sure of it.

"And he's got quite the effect as well!" I announced, pumping my fist into the air and then bringing it in front of me, aware of the sounds of my friends around me as they began to sneak around the sidelines of the duel towards Syrus. Well, if anything, now I _had_ to keep his undivided attention on myself.

"Another effect monster," he murmured, enraptured by my new play but unconcerned. By the slight curve of his lower eyelid I could tell he was disappointed, maybe even wondering why he was challenging me in the first place.

**_Well let's change that._**

I ignored his loud voice to the best of my ability, trying to pretend that I didn't agree with him, that I didn't want to hurt Axel for what he was doing to Syrus. "He gains 400 more attack points for every Magic and Trap card on the field—so that's 4500 attack points!"

Unimpressed, he waited for me to call my attack, his eyes on my face down. I huffed, he'd have to wait for that one—the card that would send his own plays right back in his face. The situation wasn't ideal yet. "Now attack him directly Flare Neos!"

"I activate Burial from a Different Dimension. This lets me return 3 removed monsters from play back into my graveyard," he rebutted, activating the trap with ease. "And now I'll remove one of them to stop your attack with my Firewall."

My grin spread. "Avian! Direct attack!"

This resulted in the same ordeal as above, and I could see the displeasure in Axel's mind, clouded with confusion to the smile splitting my face. "You want to see power Axel? Well how's this?! I activate the Instant Spell—Contact Out!"

As Neos and Flare Scarab separated, ready to fight once more, he began to understand, and appreciation appeared in his eyes. "Now Neos! Attack him!"

The third fire monster was removed, leaving him wide open, finally vulnerable. And to a fire type attack no less. Eyes narrowing in pleasure, I ordered my last monster to attack, suddenly buffeted by a gust of wind as he took off. Something pulled at my gut as my monster sent fire hurtling Axel's way, and a rush of heat slammed me in the face, contrasting heavily with the cool night air.

The attack was real.

But the thing that stunned me the most was that I didn't care.

And Axel took the assault without a hint of pain or fear. He simply put his arms in front of his body and shouldered the flames, their heat creating perspiration on his skin, but without the heavy red lines of burns. The attack ended much too quickly, leaving his life points at 1300 and his expression purposefully open.

"Hot! Hot!" Hassleberry whimpered, shrinking away from the flames as they faded, eyes wide. "I know Kaiba takes the duel effects seriously—but that was just plain overboard!"

Jesse's head whipped back to face me, trying to make contact with my eyes, but I silently refused to look at him, focusing on the reaction of my opponent. It was the only thing that really mattered. "Jaden..."

I couldn't look at him because I knew what I was doing was deeply wrong. And I knew that he wouldn't understand my justification if he figured out that it was _me_ causing the damage—not Kaiba's dueling system. Shame flushed onto my face and I lowered my gaze for a few moments, simply unable to process anything else.

I had just tried to intentionally hurt someone. Me. Not Haou. Me.

And if they weren't here... I would just keep charging forward with these attacks. Axel would be hospitalized, but Syrus would be safe. Confusion swirled in my chest, temporarily blotting out everything else, and I found that the line between my own moral set of good and evil had been swept away as well.

I looked up, mentally defeated, but physically fighting, and wondered what I was supposed to do now. Axel had obviously taken the brunt of the attack, and thus knew that it was not an effect of my duel disk, and I couldn't take the attack back.

And most of my still didn't want to.

"That heat, I've never felt such a fighting spirit before," he whispered.

That sentence gave me an easy way out of this.

Fighting spirit—the mantra I had been preaching ever since year one. Something I could easily fall back on now—the façade of losing oneself so deeply in a duel the winner or loser didn't matter. The only thing that existed was the two duelists, and what we learned about each other through our fight was confidential, kept secret by the silent pact of the fighters.

I held his eyes with my own, silently challenging him to give in and fight me without his games or his missions, to join me in true combat on the dueling field, and to see what it meant to be a duelist.

To enjoy yourself in the heat of combat.

Something that I was doing too much of.

With a small smile, he accepted, turning to Jesse and Hassleberry's perch on the branch. They jumped guiltily, hands near Syrus' rope, determined to try and find a way to free him without being caught. But he had known the entire time they were there, just as I had.

I looked at him, saying nothing. I had already given him everything that I thought needed to be said, and now it was time to let him make his own decision. I knew it would be the right one, unlike my own tonight.

And it was.

With one press of a button, he shut off both the device and my brewing anger, although the evidence of the blistering attack was still layered on his dark skin.

"You stopped it...?" Jesse wondered, comprehension dawning in his emerald eyes. Syrus whimpered grateful tears from below, cheering out my name proudly.

"Of course he did! Jay ignites everyone's souls in duels and shows them passion and the right way!" he shouted, doing something to make the rope swing precariously on the small device. "That's why he's going to do so well in this tournament—and why I'm going to do my best to find my own dueling style. One that lets me respect my opponents _and_ has the same burning righteousness as Jaden's!"

His words bled my heart out, bringing down its wall with every echo down its long, empty passageways. The right way was something I no longer followed—something that was going to make me abandon them all.

I wonder if he will still speak the same of me when I'm gone.

"Go Jay! Beat him!" Syrus finished, jerking his body in such a way that the rope snapped.

Several things happened at once.

A scream erupted from Syrus' mouth the second gravity started to take effect. My stomach plummeted at the same exact moment my heart shot into my throat, choking my cry of "Syrus!" as it burst past my lips. Jesse lunged over the edge, disappearing from view, as Hassleberry's strong hands wrapped around his ankle, bracing his own legs against the tree for balance.

A dangerous game of teeter-totter began, the scales of fate weighted heavily against us. My breath vanished into the vast vacuum of space, forever lost, as the chain of delicate lives slipped closer to the edge of oblivion, muscles straining with desperation, clinging onto life with every fiber of their being.

"Guys," I exhaled, duel scattered by the night breeze. I made to start forward, but was beat to the punch by Hassleberry's foot. During its treacherous slide towards the ocean, it had found a strong foothold on a branching hunk of the overhanging tree, secure. Safe.

"I've got 'em!" he announced, echoed by Jesse.

The world breathed again.

"Thanks," was the only thing that I could say with my heart hammering its way back down to my chest. I rested one palm against the thundering surface, too relieved to worry about Axel and his mission—and whoever was leading his mission.

He understood this, as he did many other things, and waited until my friends were all successfully on my side of the playing field to continue with our game. Even then, he waited for my eyes to stray from their safe, shaken, and laughing forms, before he declared his next play.

"I'll pay 500 life points to keep Firewall."

**LP: 800**

The others started at his voice, and then remembering the duel with me; they began to cheer me on heartily, voices fluttering to the beat of my anxious heart. If the thought of losing them made me react like I did... like my entire world had come crashing to an abrupt end... how could I willingly march away from them...?

But the way I had easily given into my anger and willingly attacked Axel solidified my reasons for leaving.

"Next I'll activate the Spell Card Blasting Vein," he continued, placing the card in the appropriate spot with a bit more energy than he had in previous turns. "This destroys one facedown on my field so that I can draw two cards."

The card on the far left side of his field went up in bright red flames. I smiled.

My friends were safe.

I could duel without having to... but Axel had felt the real attack, had seen the brief flicker of gold in my eyes, he must be wondering...

I sucked in a huge breath and let it out slowly. It didn't matter. If this was going to be my last Duel Academy duel, then I'd give it everything I had—not everything Haou had.

"The card I destroyed was Fire Trap, and when it's destroyed I can draw another card."

Jesse whistled, commenting lightly, "Good top-deck strategy, eh Ruby?" A sorrowful smile tugged at the corners of my lips when I clearly envisioned Hassleberry and Syrus swapping confused looks. And I had just been getting to know Jesse and his spirits...

"Now I'll send Blaze Cannon to the graveyard in order to bring out Blaze Cannon Trident!" he finished, drawing my attention as a new machine took the old one's place, shiny and mean looking against the green and blue background.

"It upgraded!" I announced, bracing myself for whatever Axel had in store for me this turn. I was going to turn all of my attention on this duel—both to distract myself from my dilemmas and the prospect of leaving everyone else. It was for the best, because as Syrus said, I always showed and took the right path.

And for them, this was it. I'd gladly sacrifice my own happiness if it meant keeping them safe. So I had to stop thinking ahead and behind. I had to live in the present like I always prided myself with doing.

"I'll launch Volcanic Backshot—and Blaze Cannon Trident's effect deals you 500 points of damage!"

"Whoa!" I exclaimed as the monster catapulted straight into Neos, destroying him completely, and my life points took a decent-sized hit. Peering over the top of my arm, I saw Axel take two more cards out of his deck and play them on the field. "Hey—what're you...?"

"Volcanic Backshot has a special ability as well. For the first successful destroy, two more Volcanic Backshots can be fired at the opponent," he explained over my question, waving them forward. Explosions leveled my monsters flat, leaving me wide open and vulnerable.

Except for my trap.

**LP 650**

"And I'll end with two cards facedown."

"Now that was a great turn!" I exclaimed, trying my hardest to get into the groove of the fight, even if I was about to end it. I failed miserably, but the tips of his lips twitched upwards in response, the will to fight blazing deep within his dark eyes. "But that won't stop me!"

"Oh really? How do you plan on getting past my Fire Wall? There's nothing you can do in this situation."

"Let's just see about that!" I answered, slashing my new card through the air, my heart thundering in anticipation. A quick tilt of it showed me that my deck had come through once again, and the smile that crossed my face was honest. "I summon Elemental Hero Wild Heart in attack mode **(Atk: 1500)**! And guess what? He isn't affected by traps! So go Wild Heart, end this! Direct Attack!"

Swinging his large sword, he launched himself over the obstacles, nearing my opponent with every passing second. Axel's face reared back in surprise, hesitation in his features as if he had just remembered something incredibly important. But before I could even think of asking what that was, he activated a trap, saving his skin. Maybe, it all came down to what that trap did.

"I'll activate instant spell: Crazy Fire! By paying 500 life points and destroying my Blaze Cannon Trident I can destroy all monsters on the field!"

I watched my monster explode mid-attack, kindling with excitement. This was it—the situation that I had called for. Now I could just use my facedown...

"And then I can special summon one Crazy Fire Token **(Atk: 1000)** from my hand or deck!" he concluded as a fiery snake monster burst from the magic card, coiling angrily in the space it was confined to. My own heart mimicked the beat before me, eager to escape, to inflict it power against the opponent. To win.

"He's got no monsters left!" Hassleberry exclaimed, taking an uncertain step forward. Syrus grabbed his arm in response, his small hands closing over his elbow excitedly.

"So what? He's got that trap from the first turn right? Go get your game on Jay!"

A cracked grin exploded onto my face. He had so much faith in me... "Will do Sy! I activate the Trap Card Elemental Mirage!"

As the card revealed itself to my opponent, he simply nodded as if he had expected this outcome and accepted it. Something faltered in my mind, unsure where his sudden dueling spirit had disappeared off to, but my attack continued strong, unhindered by the small voice of logic.

"This let's me special summon every Elemental Hero that was destroyed this turn—so say hello to Wild Heart once more!" I bellowed, slicing my hand through the air to pave the way for my hero's revival. Animals sung as his presence resounded across the dueling arena, aware of his chosen element. Smiling, I declared the final attack of this duel, watching with vigor as Wild Heart slashed Crazy Fire Token into oblivion, buffeting Axel with a hard force of wind as his life points finally hit zero.

**Jaden LP: 650**

**Axel P: 0**

Something ugly flared up within the darkest chambers of my heart, enthralled at the prospect of physically damaging the person that had hurt Syrus. It tainted the rest of me as well, pushing adrenaline through my body as if I should actually enjoy this, as if Axel _hadn't _turned out to be a 'good guy'; as if his only goal was to hurt Syrus, not just to try and see all of my dueling power.

"Mission complete," he whispered, closing his eyes and accepting the loss. I was about to congratulate him on such a fiery duel and ask about this mission when it happened.

Everything that was within me was suddenly nothing. The anger, the spite, the excitement, the small pinpricks of joy, the overwhelming sense of sorrow, the looming threat of danger, Haou's tormenting words, sight, smell, _life_, all ceased to exist. It was as if one moment I stood on top of the world, slowly reigning back in the small amount of darkness I had exuded in the duel, only to have something forcibly suck my dry of it all. The pounding of blood in my ears stopped—my very heart suddenly void of the strength to beat. Breath was nonexistent—the world suddenly didn't have any oxygen for me to take in. Balance was a myth, but gravity was still a force.

**_You lost, _**Haou commented idly, surprising me. **_And you know it. _**

I felt my body tip backwards, a small surprised sound escaping my useless mouth, and wondered in this sudden world of darkness if I had gone too far after all.

I was gone before I hit the ground.

* * *

**Axel POV**

So this was the power that Viper had wanted to see. The flicker of golden firelight within his eyes. The heat that his monster exuberated in battle. The force and physical impact of true monsters and battles. The unbelievable amount of self restraint. The great fear he held for his own anger. The tears he refused to shed.

I knew that he had not done as vowed in this duel as soon as the first wave of flames had licked my skin, coating it in a thick layer of perspiration. I knew from the ranging expressions in his eyes that he had understood that I had let him win as well, but wasn't overly concerned. It wasn't important for some reason.

Not just because it meant he won the duel and was safe from elimination in this tournament, it was something else that haunted him in the darkest corners of his mind that kept him from caring—or perhaps even noticing that he had even known of my betrayal to our pact. Or perhaps he wasn't going to bring it up at all because he knew that I knew that he hadn't held up his end either.

We would duel again then. A duel without antes that create disrespect and distraction among the rank of soldiers—that create distrust before the battle has even been declared. But for now, my mission was over, as the small camera in the trees over Jaden's head reminded me.

"Mission complete," I announced to myself.

But unfortunately, it wasn't.

I saw the Bio Band on my wrist flare a bright orange color just before most of the energy escaped my body, leaving me kneeling on the ground.

_This feeling... what have you done Viper?_

Gasping, I forced myself to look up at Jaden, wondering if he as feeling the same thing. I watched as life suddenly left his eyes and he fell back, crumpling to the ground in a dead faint. Or at least I feverishly willed it to be a faint.

The way his friends screamed out his name seemed to make it seem untrue, and they all rushed at him, forcing him up with their many hands, ignoring me. Which I was grateful for; Jaden obviously was in need of more medical examination than I was.

But now I had questions where there were none before. I had remembered what my father said about soldiers during this duel and Jaden had showed me a glimpse of the true power of dueling as well, something that rested within his kindling embers of a soul.

The heavily muscled one heaved the Slifer student over his shoulders and dashed away from this scene, towards the school and the infirmary, no doubt. Good.

I glanced at the camera again and began to wonder how much Viper had known about Jaden's true dueling power—if he had envisioned real monsters and golden eyes.

For some reason I was strangely grateful that the camera was facing Jaden's back.

My gut told me that Viper didn't know half of it, and that he didn't need to know either.

* * *

**Jaden POV**

The usual setting. Darkness, mirrors lazy tendrils of darkness floating underfoot—where were they?

The world behind my eyelids was full of blinding white light, of anxious encouragement from my friends to keep fighting; of jostles in my body with every step whoever was carrying me took. The concept of time eluded me, appearing and disappearing in bouts of my fading consciousness, and I couldn't help but wonder if I was dying.

It would certainly explain all of the light.

Hearing quickly followed wherever my vision had gone, and now the sounds all around me were muffled, as if I was trying to listen from deep underwater. The light burned my closed retinas and my exhausted lungs into submission, making it difficult for me to cling onto life at all.

Haou's voice had vanished once again, leaving me the moment that my strength had dissolved into the harsh moonlight. My mind longed for the gentle waves of darkness, for a relief from this blinding light, but there was no energy within me to summon the darkness that had been so eagerly trying to escape earlier.

It scared me almost as badly as how easily I had summoned it an eternity ago.

Then suddenly I wasn't being moved anymore, a sensation in the bottom of my stomach told me I was being set down. Mildly curious to my new location—could it make the light stop? Or at least dim?—I tried to open my eyes, only to fail. Blindly, I stretched my crippled senses out, trying with all my remaining life to find something I could cling on to.

My reach brushed against a spot of darkness in all of this light, and my mind seized it without question, pulling it back over my eyes to rid myself of the white. As I did so, I felt new strength wash into my body—or rather—old strength. Old anger and hatred... old and familiar...

**_Open your eyes._**

He was back!

Too tired to be confused, I obeyed his command, amazed as the faces of my friends and Ms. Fontaine's swam into view. Tears were streaming down Syrus' face—whether of relief or fear I couldn't tell. Jesse's eyes were wide and confused, his gaze flicking between me and something behind him, blocked from my range of view. Hassleberry was grinning widely at the nurse/teacher's shocked face.

"Hey..." I whispered, unable to do anything else.

"Jaden!" he shouted in response, immediately pulling off his blue jacket. I watched his movements tiredly, ready to give into fatigue again, but sensing that he had something important to tell me first. "I've decided to go back to the Yellow dorms and work my way back into Blue so that I can find my own fighting spirit! Just like your duels always hold—I'll find my own way!"

Wordlessly, I smiled, and gave myself up to the true darkness of sleep, for once, unafraid of its clutches. But it didn't overtake me quickly enough for Jesse's voice to go unnoticed as he announced something that would, once again, change every decision that I had committed myself to.

"Uh... guys? This fellow over here in all black's waking up."

"Zane!"

* * *

**(hangs head in shame)**

**Okay, the ending was a big giant fail boat... but it was getting long and I needed to get Zane waking up in the picture...**

**Once again--I am SO SORRY for my lack of updates. I've failed you guys, I'm really sincerely sorry for making you wait.**

**AxJfan**


	18. Shadows

**Here it is! I will probably not be updating much this break: I have much work to do as a prospecting College Student. ;)**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh! Gx, as awesome as that would be.**

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* * *

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Shadows

**Jaden POV**

I heard the knees on my pants rip against the cracked dirt below me as I was tossed mercilessly to the desert floor. The heavy body of my attacker quickly followed, and I felt the pressure of cold steel against the back of my neck.

My three companions cried out for me before being abruptly silenced.

"Inferno Wing!" I exclaimed, and my signature monster flamed into appearance, rushing towards where I had last heard my friends.

Laughter echoed around me, and from their noise I estimated that there were eight or nine of them. But I still had my deck... I could still get us out of this situation if Inferno Wing could just—

As if reading my thoughts, the hand of my attacker dug deep into the holder wrapped around my tunic and pulled it out. His hands betrayed his profession—a white-robed thief of obvious skills.

"Inferno—" I began, only to have my head smashed against the floor. I let out a low groan as he pulled me back up, and watched as he passed off my deck to a "purifier" and my livid monster vanished. Something wet slid down the front of my face, and I managed to wonder if I had broken my nose.

Thinking the same thing, the weight on my back reached around with a fingerless white glove and touched the offending body part. Pain flared through me, but not intensely enough for it to be broken. The hand was removed, coming away with a mixture of blood and sweat, and he sneered, "Can't have all this blood, you've got to be recognized by your people now, don't you?"

"I didn't know the 'pure light' accepted thieving rats," I snarled back, well aware that I should already be dead if their Master had declared it.

"Such long hair for a boy," he whispered into my ear, breath hot, wet, and labored from the chase. Long fingernails bit deep into my scalp, tearing at my hair to keep me in place. I bit deep into my tongue to prevent from crying out, intent on at least keeping my pride intact when all else failed. The taste of bitter copper flooded into my mouth.

A throaty growl erupted from the throat of my nearest companion, and I strained past the sweat coating my eyelashes to see his form. The gags and blinds had already been placed over his face, making him mute and blind to the world around him. A quick flick of my eyes told me that the other two were still conscious as well, but I was the only one free to see and speak.

Deciding to use this to my advantage, I turned the full heat of my glare onto our assailants and threatened, "You have no idea who you're dealing with. Let them go if you wish to live."

"Well aren't you a cute little King," another masked face trilled, reaching to wrap a bright white cloth across my eyes.

"I'm not King," I snarled, imitating the tone that my father had used while addressing this group's supposed 'white flag' arrangement. Their dagger-like words still drummed through my skull, louder now as I faced their treachery in the face.

_"But Sire, there is one thing that you must remember..."_

_"And what is that?"_

_"All of _our _flags are white."_

A grin slit the visible half of her face open like a blade, and I felt my rapidly beating heart plummet into my stomach. She hesitated with the blindfold, choosing to stare haughtily into my eyes while she dropped the bomb on the already shattered pieces of my soul. "You are now."

"You monsters!" I screamed, lunging at her with my body. But the fist in my hair held fast and tight, jerking me back into place. And with a powerful shake of his hand, the white robed assailant sent me tumbling to the ground, scraping my pained arms up further.

I could feel the sting of tears and dirt in my eyes, but vowed never to let them fall in front of the enemy. My father had always insisted that a ruler must be strong and poised in front of both his people and his enemies, even if the only thing that occupied his heart was fear and hatred. He claimed that my kingdom would draw strength from my confidence, and it would instill fear into the minds of my enemies.

And I would honor his lessons now that it seemed he would never preach them again.

"What have you done with my parents?!" I growled as she forced me into an awkward kneeling position, continuing to gloat.

"I don't think I'll tell you that," she answered, spiking the power within me and sealing her fate.

"I warned you," I growled, and as she raised an eyebrow, I spat blood into her face. She reared back in surprise, swiping angrily at her eyes, giving me the perfect chance. I sprung up and spun to face them; reaching quickly into the powers they had awakened in me.

Darkness overtook me in a gust of powerful wind, immediately knocking those close to me into the surrounding trees and rock structure, snapping ribs and releasing consciousness.

Driana called from her spot on the ground, sensing what I was doing. But I was set on just one thing: total annihilation of the Light of Destruction.

I must avenge my parents.

I must save my kingdom.

They may have taken my deck, but they were foolish to think that I would be powerless without it. The weak metal bonds around my wrists snapped with a surge of my will, and from the lining of my boot I retrieved my hidden dagger. The lessons I had been taught flooded through me, along with the words of the one I loved above all else.

_Be careful when using this knife my love. It is only for dire situations. A scratch upon one's skin will drain their power and can save you if used properly, but the object has no loyalty. It could just as easily kill you in someone else's hands._

I steadied the deep black and gold weapon, weaving both my hands around the obsidian hilt with practiced ease. For a moment my attention was split between my companions and my enemies, unsure if I should give aid or protect first.

Hesitation was the force that undid me.

"This is what I've been waiting for!" someone cried, dropping down from above. Astonished, I barely had time to look up before my own dagger was forced from my hands and driven deep into my gut.

Pain was the last thing I remembered.

... And the first when I gasped into wakefulness, clutching towards the near fatal wound on my right side.

"Jaden?"

"Is he alright?"

"Jaden, what's wrong?"

A soft hand touched mine and the pain faded, and I found myself looking up into unfamiliar hazel eyes from a standard hospital bed. I blinked heavily, and it took me a moment to remember myself, still caught up in the reality of that bizarre dream.

"I'm fine guys," I grinned after collecting my breath and gently removing my hand from Alexis' tight grip. "I just had the strangest dream ever."

"Strange like...?" the very adult voice of Ms. Fontaine wondered, chart in hand and pen poised. I raised an unsteady eyebrow at her posture, and Jesse beat me to the punch.

"You taking notes Ma'am?" he asked, sticking his hands deep in his pockets and sitting down on the edge of my bed. I kicked him lightly with my feet, and he grinned at me from the side.

We did not expect her to answer. "Well, yes!"

"Umm... why?" Hassleberry wondered, scratching his bandanna in evident confusion. Syrus shrugged as well, in a Yellow Uniform I noticed. I must have slept through the night. But with that strange dream I didn't exactly feel rested.

"Look," she snapped, dark circles under her eyes suggesting that she'd been up all night, "Jaden's condition is far too serious to have happened from just a duel, and he's been ill these past few days anyway. There is something bizarre going on here and with all that's happened at Duel Academy I am not ruling anything out of the equation. This illness could have something to do with his dream for all we know."

"I have a condition?" I felt the need to ask. Sure, last night I...

...

What had happened last night after the duel?

The overworked teacher rounded on me next, clearing forgetting that I was the patient and thus needed pampering of some kind. "You cannot try and make this seem like nothing Jaden Yuki! I will not allow you to leave here until I can find out what is wrong with you!"

Defiantly, I pulled myself into a full sitting position, crossing my legs and leaning forward to look deep into her eyes. "I'm fine Ms. Fontaine. I... I don't really remember what happened last night after the duel, but I feel great right now... well hungry, but that's normal."

"This seems to be a pattern for you Jaden," she growled, her teeth grit together in an unusually livid expression. "You get hurt and then you forget what it was that happened. And I intend to find out what this means before others get hurt as well... You nearly died last night Jaden."—she paused here, letting the message sink in—"Tell me about this dream, it could be important."

Stung, I stared at her for a few moments, unable to form a proper argument. Although I wasn't sure why I was unwilling to share this dream—Haou had not been in it at all and there was really nothing to let them all know what had been going on with me—it felt strangely personal, like a memory rather than a dream.

Which was impossible, because I had been older in that dream than I was now.

"Sure," I finally said, successfully hiding my uncomfortable feelings from everyone but three in the room. Those three being Jesse, Driana, and Alexis. I was pretty sure by their strangely sharp eyes that they could see right through my façade.

Hoping to throw them, I started off with a simple fact. Nudging Jesse with my foot, I continued, "You and Driana were in it. And there was someone else too, but I don't know them."

"Me? Him? Us?" Driana repeated. I nodded, avoiding her gaze with a casual glance at the ceiling. Because of this, I missed her carefully slip her right hand into her purse and dial a number that was picked up exactly on the third ring...

"Like I said before, it was pretty out there."

"Just get on with it already Slacker, we've got things to tell you too!" Chazz growled from his usual corner, giving me his usual glare.

"Chazz," Alexis warned, raising her first in his general direction. He shut up immediately.

"Umm... thanks Alexis," I muttered, careful now not to use her nick name. She noticed but said nothing, as did everyone else. "Umm... where was I? Oh, yeah, the beginning."

I went on to describe every detail I could remember; answering a few random questions from the agitated nurse about my surroundings (was it night? Where were you? Who were these people?). All the while, I noticed Driana paling considerably and Jesse's brow furrowing, as if he was pretty sure he had heard this somewhere before. I noted this carefully, not sure what use it would be of me if I was going to eventually leave them, but realizing it was important enough to remember.

"How old were you in this dream?" Ms. Fontaine asked after finishing my recap. I hesitated, thinking back—but then remembered that it was hesitation that doomed me there.

"Nineteen," I blurted out, surprising her. Eyebrows narrowed, she continued drilling me, though there was a rhythm to her questions now.

"How old were your companions?"

I answered without thinking. "Driana and Jesse were my age, but the other guy was twenty one."

"How long had those people been chasing you?" I shook my head. She scribbled something down on her board and continued, "Alright, what about your parents? How old were they?"

"My mother was... 35. My father 36."

Bastion's mathematical mind calculated the numbers before anyone else could even use their fingers. "Then they had you when your mother was sixteen!"

"What time period was this?"

"I don't know? Present?"

"You mentioned a Master to the subjects in your dream. Who was that? Who was your Master? What were you doing in the desert?"

Answers continued to roll abruptly off my tongue, "The Light of Destruction, I didn't have one, there was some kind of a peace talk going on, but they betrayed us and attacked, so he sent me with my friends to a safe bunker in the desert."

"Friends as in bodyguards?"

"I don't know."

"You said you had a knife?"

There was an awkward silence. "Uhh... yeah."

"Where did you get it?"

Another blank spot. "... someone I cared about gave it to me."

"Who?"

My head shook again.

"How old was this person? Male or female? Friend, family, or lover? How long did you know him or her? Why weren't they with you in this dream?"

I stared at her, hit with a mental block the size of Texas. "I can't remember anything about this person... just that they were important to me."

"Like a brother? Sister? Friend? Lover?" she repeated, more urgently this time, staring at me from over her notes. Mine skipped away from all of theirs, answering her question as effectively as anything else.

"Jaden... this isn't right," she said eventually, putting down her board and sitting on the bed next to me. Jesse scooted up and fell in line next to a bizarrely white Driana, touching her shoulders in concern. I still couldn't look any of them in the eye.

"You should not be able to recall all of these details. In your narration the age of your parents was never mentioned, nor the age of your companions. You said that you were at the mouth of a desert in the middle of fall, and there were peace talks going on with the light—which we've already dealt with. You were in love with someone that you know nothing about."

I remained silent, agreeing with her wholeheartedly, but too frightened to admit it.

"I think that someone is giving you a message Jaden, a warning. This was much too detailed and evolved to be an ordinary dream," she explained slowly. "I'm thinking that this person put you in their shoes, and that's why you knew everything about their background. He or she gave you a memory of some kind, and they swapped out the faces of their allies with the faces of your friends... I think there is danger coming again."

She let the bomb drop.

And Chazz exploded, "Well duh! These nitwits have been complaining about other spirits blocking them and people have been going out of their way to duel Slacker here! And he just dreams about the light of destruction again? Doesn't exactly take the geek over there to figure it out!"

"Spirits?" I repeated, grabbing onto a subject that seemed safe to talk about. "What do you mean? Winged Kuriboh hasn't had any trouble lately."

"And there within lies the problem."

We were all silenced by the deep voice coming from the hospital bed across from mine. A lightly burned hand pulled back the privacy curtains, revealing the black cuffs of the person who had triggered this mess.

"Zane," I breathed, Jesse's late night proclamation rushing back to me. He stood up calmly, ignoring the haphazard nurse completely. In this moment his eyes only knew me, and he was searching with them for the truth of the duel we shared—for the fight I didn't want to remember.

"I would like to speak with you alone," he commanded, spurring objections across the crowded room. But just as he, I had eyes only for one person, because within him I could see the truth that I so desperately wanted to mask—the truth that was coming unraveled right before my shaking hands.

But my voice gave away nothing. "It's alright guys." Roars and protests met my response, as expected, so I continued, "It's _alright_. Maybe he remembers something that could... maybe something happened with that person you think is trying to talk to me, Ms. Fontaine."

"Then he can tell all of us what he remembers," Alexis suggested, folding her arms across her chest and taking a stand in the middle of the hospital. Zane and I both broke eye contact to appraise her silently, sensing an immediate threat in the conversation that was about to happen.

"I must speak to Jaden first," Zane replied, straightening his back further so that he towered over our mutual friend. "Then I will gladly speak with all of you."

"How do we know you won't hurt him?" she shot back, giving him a glare cold enough to freeze the volcano.

"With what means do you suggest I do that?" he asked, waving an empty hand around the bland room we were trapped in. "There is nothing here that can do him any harm."

Her glare broke.

Lower jaw trembling, she clenched her teeth and exploded, "Why are you doing all of this? Why did you come after us like you did...? You've always wanted to be the best duelist... but in a way that respected your opponents! I want to trust you Zane, so badly, especially because I know how kind you can be... but..."—her eyes found the exposed burns on my wrists and her jaw hardened in her own typical fashion—"I know I can't."

Something reacted between them, and I could feel the shared memories floating in the air around them of the ocean, the lighthouse, and the sunset. A sad sort of envy halfheartedly brushed against my heart before retreating, knowing that it was pointless.

But in the end he simply commented, "You shouldn't."

His response was eerily similar to Haou's that I had to intercept the conversation before Alexis could mimic my own inner battle. "Alexis," I said, standing and placing one cold hand on her shoulder as surely as I could. Her attention immediately snapped to me, and within her eyes I could see the emotion that was hammering away in my throat. "It'll be alright, Zane said it himself. If he wants to talk to me first... then we might as well let him. He said that he'd tell everyone after a few things got straightened out right?"

"But Jaden," she began, suddenly quiet. I didn't give her a chance to finish. My hand slid off of her shoulder hesitantly, returning to its place at my side.

"I'll be fine, I promise."

She searched me with those beautiful hazel irises for a few moments longer, something in them shattering as she did so. A new sense of nostalgia washed over us. Pain was blossoming within her... and I could sense it behind my own mask as well. These feelings that we had and could not return...

"Alright Jaden, I trust you," she whispered, turning her back to me and walking out of the room, ushering the others in front of her with a casual wave of her hands. "But if you need anything, just shout and we'll come charging in."

"Gotch—got it."

But I could see that she was watching me out of the corner of her eye even as the door closed behind her. The separation was startlingly silent and final, almost painful to behold. I suppose the road ahead of me was littered with such sad goodbyes, so I may as well ready myself for more.

"How long have you been here?" Zane launched right into the interrogation, sparring me no time for my emotions like Axel had the previous night.

"I was brought here after our duel," I replied, swapping my attention to my steely eyed challenger, "and I woke up the next morning. Then I left and went to the welcoming party for the new students, and then I was challenged to another baited duel, this time against a new transfer. After the duel I fainted apparently, so the guys brought me here."

"I see," he murmured to himself, eyes narrowed. His quiet appraisal pierced through my every defense, and I could feel him searching for the darkness that had appeared in our duel.

He found it. "What do you remember of our duel?"

"I remember Driana's confession. Nothing after that."

"But you know what happened."

"I do."

"How long have you know of this?"

"Since the moment it happened."

"Who was the so called spirit Jaden?"

A pause.

"There is no spirit."

A beat.

"Then to whom do the golden eyes belong?"

Hesitation.

"To me."

* * *

**Alexis POV**

"Golden eyes?" I repeated, only to be noisily shushed by the others, their ears pressed up against the walls and door.

And there was no spirit after all? What was with his memory dream then? And Jaden knew this—and he knew what had happened during the duel even if he doesn't remember it?

"To you?" Zane echoed. Jaden must have nodded or done something similar, because he continued, "Can you prove this?"

The defeat in Jaden's soft voice was not reassuring to any of us. "I'm not sure... I don't understand it fully myself."

"I am correct when I assume that you have not told the others."

"Yeah, I haven't told my friends yet."

"Smart."

"No it's not. They know something's up, but this is something I don't feel like I can tell them. We wouldn't even be having this conversation if you hadn't have... triggered it for yourself."

"Something like this should not be discussed with weaklings who could never understand. It is best left between two individuals of great power like ourselves."

"They aren't weak Zane."

"But they are not as strong as you or I Jaden, they never have been. I am the closest person to your strength here at the Academy, and I know darkness when I come in contact with it."

"Darkness?" Jaden and I breathed; the word as startling as the Light would have been.

"Correct, it is the ultimate form of power. I will admit that I am surprised to find that you have such a deep blackness in your mind."

Jaden was as silent as the rest of us, hanging on Zane's accusations in disbelief and denial. Or maybe he kept his mouth shut because... he already knew what the black clad teen was telling him. I had seen that absolute darkness in him already, just the night before actually, the time when his eyes had been too old for his body, had been too broken for his spirit.

My hand covered my mouth to prevent a pained outcry.

"This power that you hold so tightly within you," he commanded, voice unwavering though his condition was still questionable, "is the force that put me on this hospital bed. It kept me pinned down deeply in the recesses of my own mind; it punished me for hurting those it cherished. But last night it fled from me like a cloud of death hung around it. And when I opened my eyes, I found you in the bed across from me with Fontaine muttering about how it was impossible for someone who was about to die to suddenly be fine. You called it back somehow, it left to save you."

"I didn't hurt you," he insisted, though his resolution shook along with his voice. "It was your underground duels Zane—they've ruined your heart and during our duel it finally gave out—"

"Don't even start that Jaden. A very powerful part of you knows that is not true, and it is that part of you that I wish to talk with."

Jaden's response was much too low to make out, but by the bite in the following words, it was easy to tell it had not been satisfactory.

"That was not a wise decision Yuki."

Wondering if Jaden had fallen silent because of something Zane had done, I pressed my own ear against the wall. Nothing beneficial came of this except that I could now very easily hear the plumbing as it whisked away through the pipes behind the plaster.

"Aren't you going to ask me for the end result of our duel?"

"You lost." The answer was short and clipped. My frown deepened.

"There are some things that shouldn't be forgotten Jaden," Zane chided darkly, his voice a calm gloat.

"And there are some things that are best left unsaid," he replied steadily, tone suddenly even and unafraid. What was with all of these attitude swings he was experiencing lately? Was it this... this Darkness?

Silence followed my... well I wasn't sure what to call him anymore... statement as Zane undoubtedly contemplated his next course of action. It was almost bizarrely familiar; the way I could still read Zane's impassive face without even having to see it. Through the paneling I could feel his skin tighten, taste his irritation, smell his harsh winter glare, and sense that there was something within him that was still watching... still _waiting_ when everything seemed lost...

The shouts of the violent waves as they crashed around us, orange in the glow of the setting sun... the texture of cold windy nights illuminated by a lone beam from the lighthouse above... the feeling of his assuring hand on my shoulder, a gesture that I now sincerely wished to be repeated...

My skin still tingled from where Jaden had touched it, too pleasantly for the situation. Just as I knew what was passing over Zane's mind right now, I knew exactly what that simple contact had meant.

Goodbye.

My eyes strayed to Atticus as the conversation hushed beyond my ears, racking his taunt form with saddened eyes. Brown met hazel, and we shared our mutual sense of loss. Our hope that eavesdropping would cast both Jaden and Zane in proper light had been attained; but at the cost of revealing their lengthening shadows...

"Who were those people Zane?"

"It does not matter."

"Actually," Jaden's voice gained a few notches of volume and perhaps even a sliver of anger, "it does matter if there are psychopaths loose on the island that want to kidnap or hurt my friends! And Alexis was right—that isn't your style! What exactly was the real point of that duel Zane?"

"To get you to duel me with your true power. That is my only purpose in anything that I do. I cannot defeat the best if they do not perform as they should."

"To get me to..." his voice faded as if coming to a nasty conclusion. "How many people were there Zane?"

"More than I would have liked."

"Zane! This is serious! Those people brought _you_ here didn't they? Not the other way around?!"

Now would be the part Zane's eyes would narrow, a warning as clear as the rattling of any snake's tail. "Are you suggesting that I was unaware of this?"

"I—you weren't?! You knew that they were... were using you and you just let them?!" Jaden exclaimed incredulously, the swift rage evaporating with sudden dread.

"In then end," Zane replied coolly, "it was I who got what I wanted from them, so no, it is the opposite Jaden."

The pause where the Slifer Duelist pondered his statement was unbearable, for everyone knew what he was about to say would prove the black-clad teen wrong, would put their most dangerous year in motion...

"These people..." he began slowly, a sigh of defeat hidden beneath his tongue, "they had cameras didn't they? All over the island probably... They _were_ using you Zane, to get to me. Just like they did our friends..."

"Your friends," Zane corrected, but said nothing to dispute his claims. The silence shared between the two blackening duelists spoke more than enough.

I had been right: Jaden was aware of some new threat to Duel Academy. And his strange behavior was because he wanted to protect us. But it seemed that this time Jaden wasn't just the primary interest of the villains because he was the only one who could stop them...

No, this time, it was because _he_ was the threat.

In the end, they said nothing. It was unnecessary to pester their falling hero about details. It was foolish to pretend that he didn't know they were eavesdropping. If there was one thing every duelist prided themselves on, it was the ability to read faces. Twitches, beads of sweats, wavering eyes, they were all signs of defeat in the opponent, signs screaming to be read and acted upon by those with powerful masks. But this dawn, there were no masks left intact to question.

No one was strong enough to voice the truth.

Not even their hero.

The explanation was brief; they dueled, he threatened, he won, they fainted, the goons undid the bindings and left, Zane had sired them to get here, and Jaden's body was too traumatized by the shocks to recall most of the duel.

It supported all of the medical evidence and fit perfectly into the delicate threads they were all stringing together. Jesse with his enemies, Driana with her past, Jaden with his _golden eyes_, Zane with his anger, Syrus with his jealousy, Alexis with her love, Atticus with his plans, Artemis with her schemes...

But who would be the first to miss? To fail to connect the ever-weaving web?

... in the end it didn't matter.

In the end...

... there was nothing left.

* * *

**(Janitor's Closet)**

_"Do it now Danchou!"_

"Artemis! I know, I kn—!"

_"No you don't! Think! If you _knew_ it was going to happen when it did and nearly croaked anyway what the _hell _do you think will happen when it catches up to him, completely unknown?!"_

"It won't happen! I survived and he's so much stronger than I am—!"

_"Danchou! Listen to what the hell I'm screaming at you! And you know I DON'T LOSE MY COOL for NOTHING!!"_

"I know you don't, but Artemis—this is a good thing, he's remem—!"

_"Damn it! This is NOT a good thing! Eight hours Danchou! EIGHT HOURS!! That's all the time he has to go through to get to the end! And if he's not prepared the shock will kill him! You were prepared! You knew! Of course you lived!"_

"Artemis, calm down! He's skipping around! He remembered the ballroom first, remember? So who's to say that—?"

_"He's remembering it based on the situation moron! And guess what?! What that guy's got planned for him will put him right down that damn road to hell!"_

"Well then why aren't we trying to stop her?!"

_"We don't have the power to stop him! And he's all over that Viper guy—there's no way we can do anything! We have to strike first—to save his ungrateful, immortal, sorry ass!"_

"That's what I'm doing! I'm trying to save his life too you know! I may not love him—but I care about him more than you can understand!"

_"More than I can...? Are you suggesting that I _don't _know what I'm talking about?! Me?! Out of everyone you have the audacity to—!"_

"Yes I am! Now shut-up!"

_"..."_

"Now that I finally have you attention—listen to me! I _know_ that there's a big chance the shock will kill him, but I also know him better than you do! He isn't the person we all remember Artemis, he's different! There are a lot of very strong similarities... but you can't keep treating him as if he's who you want him to be! Point blank—he doesn't love me. I don't love him. But that doesn't mean I won't do everything in my power to change that if it means saving his life. Don't lecture _me_ about matters of the heart and the many ways they can break. I... I know them better than you can imagine."

_"... You've grown a backbone Danchou," _her voice sparked with the smirk undoubtedly plastered on her face. _"Welcome to the big time."_

"I'll save him this time, I won't fail him again."

_"We won't. And if I could just get to that Anderson now... huhuhuh... the gang would all be back together, eh?"_

"... I'm hanging up now. I've got to go duel against Jaden."

_"And she finally gets it," _Artemis leered. _"Dueling is the language of his soul."_

"I'll lose," Driana confirmed.

_"You don't stand a chance."_

"But so did Alexis. And if I can make him respect me as a duelist instead of a friend... he'll be much easier to persuade."

_"I have taught you well."_

She stared at the phone with the blue eyes of a hawk, cutting through obstacles in her vision to see her prey. And his soft brown eyes gazed back up at her, unaware of her hidden talons. Pangs of pity welled up in her breastbone, but she did nothing to voice them. It was all business now. Lingering feelings did not matter in this game. They'd only get him killed.

"I wish you hadn't."

And she hung up.

* * *

**(Hallways of Duel Academy)**

The path to the Slifer Dorm from the hospital wing seemed unbearably long in the golden dawn sunlight. He was noticing things that had been vague blurs before; small beauties missed out on mad dashes to class with Syrus at his side, panting out and panicking about detention.

And that hallway down there was where he had first met Driana, well, if meet was the appropriate word for completely crashing into and then dragging off. And past that was the tight staircase that led up to the roof, where he spent his time dreaming and where he had met Jesse.

And this hall was where he had met Alexis. And the Obelisk Arena—his first glimpse of Chazz and their midnight duel. Hands jammed deep into his pockets, he forced his starving eyes to the floor.

If he kept submerging himself in all of these wonderful memories, he would lose the willpower to do the right thing and leave. He would only end up dooming them with a power he couldn't control, a power that had nearly taken his life the previous night.

This time he had made sure there was no one to get in the way of his departure. All of his friends had quickly departed with the anxious herding of Ms. Fontaine, insisting that both he and Zane needed to stay and rest in case of relapses. A quick video call to Axel had proved that the warrior was alright and up to no more hostage duels.

He had received and seized his chance to escape when the nurse/teacher had taken the silently protesting ex-Obelisk to get an X-ray of some kind for his heart, leaving him alone for what he guessed would be a good half and hour if Zane decided to be as difficult as the look on his face had been.

He doubted that the other duelist would stay in that place for much longer either. It had obviously not been his intention to stay on Duel Academy, and with Jaden gone, what reason was there to remain?

Yes, there was no one to stop him from packing his bags and painfully slipping away.

"Omigod! Jaden! Tell me where you learned to dance!"

"Eh?" the addressed teen blundered, skidding to a halt. His eyes found a small group of giggling Obelisk girls smiling at him with an unfamiliar glow in their eyes.

"Yeah—or will you sing for us? That would be, like, _so_ romantic," another trilled, closing her eyes and assuming the flamingo position.

"Uh... what?" he wondered, now facing the new threat head on. There were five of them, and they all seemed exceptionally eager to be talking to him. Weird.

"Come on, everyone's wondering what's going on! I mean, sure, some people just have those amazing voices," the tallest picked up, taking a suggestive step forward. Jaden raised his hands in the universal sign for 'I'm innocent—don't shoot!' as she batted her long lashes at him dreamily.

"But it's not so common to have mad dancing skills too," another added, to be followed by the smallest, "and it's really rare for that person to _kiss_ one of his partners and fall in love with the other."

"Huh—what?!"

"Oh don't deny it! You totally love Alexis! Admit it!" the first commanded, fanning out to his left as if trying to prevent him from escaping. Coiling back as if she had horrible body odor, he began waving his arms around in a feverish attempt to shield his exposed chest to them.

Insisting, "What?! No I don't! We're just friends!"

"With benefits I'd say," the smallest surmised, picking up the threads as if the entire scene had already been rehearsed and plotted by the girls. "Or maybe you love Driana instead? That's another option."

"Option? What are you talking about?!" he exclaimed, baffled and backing away swiftly still. "There's no options here at all! We're just all really close friends! Not romantically involved in the least!"

Like starving lions slowly closing in on their wounded prey, they advanced with glowing smiles, determined to grab whatever bits of gossip they could from their top duelist. "But you so totally want to be! Come on Jaden, don't deny it. The whole school knows you like them both!"

"As friends!" he repeated loudly, wishing to be faced with any other threat: Haou, the Light, the Shadow Riders, Axel, Zane, anything but what he was trying to avoid with all of his traitorous heart!

Five heads shook at him, long hair swaying hypnotically in front of hungry eyes.

"You don't have to lie."

"The whole school knows."

"But what we want to know..."

"... is who you like more..."

"... who you _love._"

"Guys—I mean girls—come on! I only love them like friends, just like I love Syrus or Jesse or even Chazz! We're just close friends. FRIENDS," he rushed, backpedaling harder, hands still held in front of his chest as if they could ward away what their words were trying to do to the thick shields he'd thrown around his heart.

"What about the kiss then?"

"Yeah, explain that!"

"Well, uh, you see..."

"Driana _likes_ you."

"And you _like_ her."

"Does the word friends mean nothing to you people!" he shouted, promptly turning on heel and fleeing from the scene before him. For a moment he sensed that his reaction had stunned them, for a moment he could put himself ahead of them, just for a moment...

He rounded the corner and ducked into the first janitor's closet on the right, a hiding spot he had used many times to avoid that Campus Security Squad people on one of his late night explorations. Ears pressed to the door, he listen to their sudden squeaks of realization and the sound of ten heels clicking across the tiled floor.

"Get back here and tell us who you like Jaden Yuki!" they hollered as they sprinted past the closet and vanished down the hall, faint echoes reaching back to torment him. He let out a deep breath and eased himself further into the cramped space, intending on catching his wildly beating heart before it did anything else.

But as he did, his hand encountered a very soft body instead of a hard wall, and he jerked away wildly, screaming in surprise.

"Umm... hi. What brings you to the closet Jaden?"

He blinked heavily and fell to the floor, groaning loudly at the misfortune fate was throwing at him.

"Are you alright Jay?" Driana Danchou wondered, stuffing her phone into her shoulder bag nonchalantly as she could.

He just couldn't catch a break.

* * *

**Animal Testing Facility**

All of this lovely energy... he had given so much... and so he must be kept alive if he were to restore the full glory that I deserved. But he will nnot be coddled, no, I must show him how much I love him the same way that he did to me...

All that glorious pain... of course I should have known love was expressed through pain! Look at how his chest clenches whenever he spots the wench or the blond girl! And for this, I must make them pay and remind him at the same time...

And what better way than to take him back...?

But I was still too weak. Despite all of this burning dark energy his heart has delivered to me, my body is still not near completion.

But I have waited nearly ten years, what more is a few days?

We will be together again... closer than ever before...

Bound by our painful love.

* * *

**The next chapter for The Descent is 3/4 done.**


	19. Lessons to Learn

**(wanders in aimlessly) **Hmm... haven't been here for awhile... Probably because I was bored by the pace I set for myself, so I sped things up a little bit in this chapter, don't worry, you all aren't missing anything...

Disclaimer: I don't own Gx. This would be bad for all character involved.

* * *

**Lessons to Learn**

**Jaden POV**

"Jaden Yuki, I challenge you to a duel!"

Her voice rang sharp and clearly across the halls, capturing more than my attention. I raised an eyebrow, gesturing towards the closet we had just hastily emerged from. "Uh, sure, but why didn't you just ask me in there?"

A faint blush crossed her face and a few mingling students snickered, much to my evident confusion. And frustration. Why did nothing make sense anymore? Why was this happening?

And perhaps most important of all, why wasn't I doing anything about it? What was stopping me from acting?

"You surprised me in there," she explained, shifting hastily around, eyeing something unseen in the corners of the hallway. "And, well, the thought just kind of hit me now. So what, are you ready? Will you duel me?"

Warily, I waited for the strange sense of longing to overtake me, but nothing happened. There was nothing between us but her steely blue eyes and streaks that made me remember something else, something more, something different. It was just... us.

Two... I looked at her with a growing sense of surprise. Were we even really friends? Without this feeling sweeping the rug under my feet and the wool over my eyes...

_Who are you?_

"Of course! I never back down from a challenge!"

Her face broke out into a relieved grin and she took my hand, soothing and cold even without all the extra miscellaneous things getting in the way. But my smile was still forced, my guard still reeling from the encounter with the crazy Obelisk girls. The white Bio-Band gleamed weakly under the fluorescent lights, and she shot the device a haphazard look before staring meaningfully at the corner once more.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Her grin was strained with some unknown form of pressure. Was it really just about the kiss last night? She seemed...

"You know where we're going!"

... scared.

That was the last normal thing that happened to me that day. After entering that arena and finding Axel waiting, arms folded… well, everything went to hell. And looking over at Viper from my knees as he toppled over the edge into his own inferno, I realized just how little I knew about that.

And how much I was about to learn.

* * *

**Alexis' POV**

He was dead.

He was dead.

He was DEAD?

Viper was... that thing had...!

"Let's journey together... into the next world!"

The glowing illusion of Viper's dead son raised its claws towards the heavens, intensifying the brilliant orange-gold glow around it. A small ring of fiery energy appeared around Jaden's fallen knees, casting the exhausted duelist in ominous sepia tones. He struggled to rise, but was kept down by the force of his own lethal dueling spirit.

"Jaden!" The others shouted his name, taking a single step forward, caught between fear and the need to save him from this creature. But I barely saw them; I only had eyes for his face, searching for the boy I knew him to be, searching for the person I adored, for the person who had withered since his encounter with Zane.

Gasping out, _"Run!"_ his hands hit the floor, propping him up with all the strength he had left. I couldn't watch this. I couldn't just stand here and...

Jesse and Driana struggled to free themselves from the remaining swamp traps around their feet, yanking at the dying metal with futile hands. I moved my feet and came free easily, being shielded from the worst by Jim's Crocodile Shirley.

I took a step forwards, feeling the blast of heat slick across my face.

_I can't just watch this happen!_

The creature whipped towards me, waving its claw menacingly in my direction. It stayed where it was; however, it was trapped in its own ring of fire as well.

_I am done sitting on the sidelines and letting others steal him!_

White lacy spirals looped upwards, engulfing the two. The earth shook at the tremendous amount of power, tipping the platform to the side, catapulting Driana and Jesse past the glowing murderer. Driana hooked one arm around its leg before it shook her off with disgust, hissing, "You will not taint this light witch!"

"Leave Jaden alone!" she rebutted, digging her palms and soles into the battle scarred platform. She lunged again, catching the monster by the clawed arm this time, and screamed. Her hands left tracks of black ash down its skin.

_I am the Queen of Obelisk! It's time I took that role and played it!_

Ignoring the black lining to the vortex swirling around the duelists, I pitched forward, sprinting towards the light slowly destroying Jaden. As we drew closer together, he turned to look at me, eyes golden in the strange light, old and concerned.

_"Alexis, go back!"_

"I won't stand down this time!" I shouted. The light grew brighter and darker, beautiful and tainted at the same time, blocking my beloved friend from view with finality that any other girl would have accepted, cried about later, and then moved on with her life about.

But I was done being just the other girl.

_"Alexis!"_

_"Alexis don't!"_

The others joined in as well, proving to me that they couldn't understand, didn't understand, and perhaps, shouldn't understand why I had to do this. The metal lurched and I stumbled forward, catching myself with my fingertips and moving ahead, puffing the hair out of my face. This was not for love or for jealousy; this was not solely to prove myself or to end it all here and now.

It was much simpler than that: It was about Jaden and I, and the friendship I refused to lose.

_And that's why..._

I charged straight into it, passing through with a painful shout, every atom of my body vibrating under the intense heat and power. Though I had closed my eyes for protection, the light was so dominating that it pierced through my lids with its radiance, casting even the blackest corner of my mind into rainbow glow.

_... I have to do this!_

For a moment I simply hung there, suspending between pain and determination, Alexis Rhodes and some other girl. Then my hair pealed off my sweaty face and I was falling, whirling past the startled outcries of far away friends and the screech of the fiend as it dislodged Driana. Soon there was nothing but the wind and my willpower.

The wind and his golden eyes.

"Jaden! Grab my hand!"

He took me in like someone lost in a dream, eyes misty with exhaustion and limbs slow to move. So far away! The ten feet might as well have been a hundred miles in this wind tunnel, this strange vortex of white and black energy we hurtled through.

"Alexis?" so quiet, so distant...

"My hand! Take my hand!"

That was all that mattered at this moment, we could tumble towards oblivion, perish in the crack between the worlds, fall victim to illusion of the monster's claw, but we would do it together. I would protect him, not the other way around.

"JADEN, IF YOU LOVE ME AT ALL TAKE MY HAND!"

The word—there, I said it. That terrible, wonderful world floated amid us, brushing past my extended fingertips and nailing him between the eyes, filling the space before us. The loving brown returned to him and he reached too, brushing our fingers together.

Our palms finally kissed.

Warmth spread through me almost instantly, calming against the frigid gales buffeting us around, towards the new world. But his eyes were still so full of pain and uncertainty, I knew that this meant everything and nothing to him, just as it did to me, and I knew so many other things that I couldn't tell him from that simple contact, but that he could see in me as clearly as I could see him.

"What's happening? Where're we going?" he hollered, straining to be heard. We free fell a few more stories before he forced his other arm out, reaching for me this time. Without hesitation I took it and we were locked together, backs towards the sky, ready to face the end together.

"I don't know!" I replied honestly, getting a good hard look at his face. My heart thundered for reasons not completely related to the fall and screamed at itself for being so fickle, for not taking a chance at him, for pretending that I was sacrificing my own happiness for the greater good. "But I won't let you face it alone this time!"

This wouldn't be a repeat of Zane or Axel; this wouldn't be like Viper.

"Alexis, I'm not..."

"Those things Viper said hurt you Jaden!" I interrupted, pushing past the lies between us. If this was truly the end, all the truth I knew and could say would come out before it. "About how you're selfish, how you have nothing to duel for!"

His heart synched with mine, pounding so loudly that we could both hear it: the personal soundtrack of our reestablishing friendship and emanate death. "Well those things aren't true! You've always dueled to protect us! Even now, when you're so closed off and hiding things—you're doing it to save us!"

His hands were shaking—from the wind, gratitude, or fear I wasn't sure.

"And maybe that is a bit selfish, to try and take the world on alone, but you did it because you've got a good heart! But we're here for you, hell, I'm here for you! So this is it Jaden, we'll face this together or I'll die trying to!"

"Alexis—"

He never stood a chance.

The world exploded, leaving nothing but black and that final unfinished sentence between us. If he had finished it, perhaps things would have turned out differently, but as we've come to learn, fate was a cruel bitch.

* * *

**Jaden POV**

_Home, I'm finally home. _

My fingers slid across the marble balcony railing, taking in the smooth texture and ocean scent of my long awaited kingdom. Moist breeze danced across my face, sweeping away the dirt and grime of an already forgotten adventure into the green earth below me, sparing the sweeping expanse of the villages in my shadow.

For some reason, a tear slid down my face.

"My love, it's been so long." Long arms slid around my neck, pulling me into a warm embrace. By reflex I leaned into it, taking comfort in the gentle beat of my loved one's heart.

I hummed in response, tugging at the high collar of my black top.

"Are you hot my love?" The arms retreated to my shoulders, steering me inside before I could complain. Sparing the beating sun one last loving look, I crossed the threshold into my cool dark room, immediately walking towards my desk. My black duel disk gleamed in anticipation, locked together in its shield form.

I stroked it with the same empathy I had touched the outside balcony. Smiled, "You don't have to be so overprotective. I'll be twenty soon, a man."

She chuckled, "All the more reason to worry."

A wry grin cracked across my face as I opened one of the drawers, searching for a lighter traveling tunic underneath all the royal dress ware. "You've never had a problem with _that_ before."

I took her responding silence as victory and withdrew an old tattered cloak, lowering the blue keep safe with feelings of mixed joy and sorrow. Sighing, I put it aside and opened my mouth for another round of our game.

Or at least, I tried to, but was rudely interrupted when the back of my head was suddenly introduced to Ms. Expensive Perfume Bottle.

"Ouch! Hey, what was that for?"

She snickered from behind me as I grabbed a random undershirt and ground my face into it, moving towards the mirror on reflex, "Artemis is going to kill you—that was hers."

"What was it doing in here?"

"Apparently, it was ammo for a recent assassination attempt," I cracked, rubbing the flowery liquid out of my eyes. She snorted in her typically unladylike ways, earning a smile underneath all of my fabric. "What kind of protector are you? I thought the goal was to keep me—"

I lowered the shirt, preparing to ball it up and throw it back at her, God damn the consequences. Spotting her in the mirror was simple, although her form was shaded by the drapes on my bed; her silhouette was easy enough to see...

My gaze fell on itself, "...Alive."

Gold. Gold. _Gold_! Golden eyes, not brown, but golden, murderous, psychotic irises that belonged to the devil himself!

I screamed, and suddenly found myself shooting into wakefulness across from Alexis, groggy and disoriented, barely able to move. She leapt into action, kicking up freezing dirt with her heels and clearing the space between us with two easy strides, lifting me up to look into my eyes.

"Jaden, are you alright?"

The contact was warm and welcome in the sudden cold, and I nodded apprehensively, taking in the purple hue of the world around me, "Where are we?"

Shaking her head, she replied, "I don't know."

_But I do, somehow, I do, this is the place... this is..._

Stalagmites and bleak mountains dotted the terrain, swarming around the small outcropping we had landed on, gleaming in the sorrowful light of a comet I knew was above me without looking. The dirt wept puffs of dust as I rose to my knees, driven by some unknown need deep within my aching heart, allowing me to peer over the edge. A startled cry escaped my mouth and I backpedaled sharply into my companion, whose arms immediately caught my shoulders in a completely unwelcome reflection of events that had passed.

"Jaden, what's wrong?"

Wildly, I shook my head, trying desperately to dislodge the images imprinted in my retinas: the lava encased ocean, the weeping ducts of earth spewing smoke into the heavens, the awkward, lumbering movement of the near dead as they were pushed or jumped to their fiery deaths, the deep, dark shadow of a looming, treacherous castle that should have been overlooking a town, that should have been welcoming and victorious, that should have been...

"This is wrong, this place shouldn't be..." I trailed off, unsure of how to finish the sentence. This was just… insane.

**_Nonsense, there is sanity and order to all in the universe; it is simply up to us to determine it._**

_Would you shut up, you're not helping!_

"Jaden," she took her hands off and settled beside me, pressing into the edge of our cliff, "do you know where we are?"

We shared a glance, the heat from below coiling between us as eagerly as it had during our parting act in Duel Academy, waiting for me to spark a fire to destroy it all once again. I swallowed once, came up dry, and tried again, "I'm not sure exactly."

Turning my head away to shade my eyes, I pondered over the best course of action for this, the way to protect Alexis and I from the twisted half-truths forming around me.

**_Stick as close to the truth as possible_**, Haou suggested idly as Alexis' eyes shone with hard determination. **_This is the only way to make believable lies. _**

"But you have an idea, right?"

"Uhh..." I replied, biting the inside of my cheek in consideration. "Let me take another look around. It's familiar, but I can't exactly place it..."

I could feel the heat from her gaze as it followed me to the edge once more, curious and hopeful as I examined the brutal scenery. The once rich blue sky had faded into a mottled gray, cackling occasional with heat lightning, creating the perfect scene for which the castle stood. Its long purple towers stabbed upwards into the clouds, keeping firmly in sight and heart, striking fear with its shadowy doorways and windows. Chills ran down my spine as I searched it, feeling not the pangs of familiarity as I had a second ago, but the pains of loss and devastation, deep enough to linger in my soul.

A figure moved in the upper balcony and I faltered, forcing my vision beyond, towards an arch in the lava-coated mountains. Quietly, I backed down and touched Alexis' shoulder, pointing out the mass of gray buildings in the distance, hidden by the stench of smoke and poverty.

"I think we should head that way. The castle's creeping me out," I whispered, keeping the building within eyeshot. For her part, she glared fearlessly at the monstrosity that dared to startle me, whispering fiercely, "That's still not an answer."

I blinked heavily. "What?"

She sighed, running a gloved hand through her thick, sweaty hair. "Where or what is this place Jaden?"

_Oh. Right. What should I say? I don't know sounds a bit too vague to get..._

**_Look up, we know this place. That figure on the balcony is not human. Look at it._**

Taking his startling advice to heart, I whipped around, turning my attention skyward once again. The figure was where I had last spotted it, standing in the doorway, looking down over the sea of boiling lava and the victims being pushed in.

"Hey Alexis, look up there, on the balcony," I pointed. "What is that?"

She scowled at the sudden change in topic, but looked up anyway, keeping one hand on my shoulder as if afraid I would bolt given the chance. "I won't let this go Jaden. Don't tell me some _spirit_ told you about this place in your _dreams_."

I winced at the jab, but kept my attention on the dark figure, frowning myself. Cloth bellowed around his shoulders like a cape, and he was pointing outwards, towards us. Something deep within me shivered, and I felt myself drawing back, tugging at Alexis' skirt to force the girl to retreat.

She crouched down, keeping a firm hold on my jacket. "What is it?"

My mouth opened, "He's giving a command."

Light hazel eyes crossed over to me dubiously, "He's what?"

I was spared the duty of answering her by a sudden swarm of suicidal soldiers dashing from the room behind the figure and leaping off the balcony, plummeting towards the fire. Alexis' hands went to her mouth to smother a horrified scream, her eyes wide and glassy with shock, but I continued to watch, heart pounding waiting for...

"They're killing themselves!" she hollered through her fingers, picking out individual snarling faces among those falling. I frowned and touched her shoulder, shakily forcing myself to stand.

"We need to leave, _now_!"

"Jaden, there has to be something we can do—we have to stop them somehow—they're just going to—!"

"ALEXIS!" Rougher than I intended to, I forced her around, away from the plummeting army, into the gaze of my hopefully brown eyes. Horror had etched deep lines into her face, and they hardened at the sight of my carefully crafted confident.

"They'll see us Alexis," I said slowly, managing to keep eye contact with trembling shoulders. "We have to move."

She shook her head at me, nearly screaming now, "Jaden they'll _die!_ They won't see us if they're _dead_!"

Her heels dug deeply into the dust and she flung her arms away from me in disgust, her eyes ablaze and reeking with disappointment, "How could you just turn your back on those people? You're not even Jaden even more!"

The comment smarted where the blows landed, but I ignored it, grabbing at her hands once more, attempting to drag her away if necessary. "I'll explain later! Move!"

"No!"—she struggled against me wildly, kicking up dirt and fear around us—"We have to do—"

It was too late. As a whole, the army pulled out of their downspin, wings and staffs raised high, and shot towards our cliff. Our struggle was easy to spot and they dove for us, screeching like demons or… Duel Monsters?

_"Winged Inferno!"_

Epiphany hit me as a hard, low blow, scattering the wayward pieces of this heaping mess closer together, overlapping and intertwining, forming a corner of the already twisted bigger picture. As Alexis' mouth hung wide open, her muscles becoming lax and limp with the weight of her shock, I drew a card as I would a sword—or a knife—and slammed it down on my still active duel disk.

Although I hadn't had the time to glance at it, Flaming Winged Man burst free from the restraints of the dueling system and hooked us around our waists with his clawed arm, pointing the other towards the army. Torrents of heat rivaling the lava river escaped him, slicing quickly through the ranks of monsters, turning a few to sparkling memories of dust.

I watched in horrible fascination as the weaker monsters screamed and burned in agony, plummeting to their deaths, as Alexis had feared, smoking up into the already black atmosphere, then choked at how many deaths had fueled the clouds overhead. So many creatures had died here… for what?

"Get us out of here!" I commanded. Reaching, I pulled Alexis closer to me to keep her anchored, and she had no protest, simply stared up at my monster as he nodded and pumped his heavy wings skyward, mouth hanging open.

Wind brushed off the feeling of heat and the stains from dirt with eager little jabs, playing with our hair and sending it crashing into the other's face. She continued to stare at my monster, completely and utterly unresponsive to the nervous glances I was throwing her way. Although Wingman's arms were muscular and strong, his movements secure and agile, I did not feel like flying with him was acceptable, and somehow I had betrayed someone other than Alexis.

Nervously, I hid my dread with a joke, "Are you a fly trap or something?"

That served as a restart, and she whirled her gaze on me, the scorching inferno of the volcano in the background returning tenfold. Alexis was back, for better or worse. "Explain."

"I figured out they were Duel Monsters," I replied simply, needing no advice from a certain grumbling guy in my head. Then, yielding to the brimstone in her eyes, "And I remembered summoning Winged Inferno in that dream… I figured it'd work here."

Then I proceeded to look away and observe the barren landscape passing below us like I had just said the most logical thing in the world. Desert sands coiled lazily in kicks of wind to the right, coming to a rough edge at the crater-like mountains that surrounded this place, spiking up towards the black sky like a giant crown.

But she wasn't done with me yet, "So this is it? This is the place you saw in your dreams?"

The idea was a hard blow to my lungs, driving oxygen out in a sharp, praying breath. Although this place was dark and full of death, dust, and calamity where the sparkling, seaside kingdom had been peaceful and pure, there were rings of similarities between them that I couldn't ignore. Echoes of a happier time poked out of deserted windows and fallen pillars decorating the mountains below, signs of once wealthy towns, busy markets, and crowded streets.

Without the words to confirm it, I merely nodded, twisting my gaze back to the dark tower dissolving into the ashy sky, a faint, ominous shadow looming over the land. I felt my eyes narrow and let myself whisper, "It was."

Obviously confused, Alexis' eyes found the castle as well, watching the distant army buzz around its peak with a horrified fascination. "Was this the war you were talking about Jaden? Did they lose?"

I had no answer for that.

* * *

**Far Away Place**

**Third Person POV**

He waited until he was sure the others weren't watching before sneaking out the door. He had seen his sister shed her last tear over their father; he couldn't take living with his face fading from their memories any longer. He was going to be a great leader too, and if that meant risking the journey back home to recover their father's picture, Kyle was going to do it.

Padding silently down the corridors, he reached the hidden entrance and pocked his head out tentatively, having at least the presence of mind to be wary of monsters. A quick glance left, right, and up deemed him safe and he dashed outside, closing the door quietly behind him.

Using the eerie blue light of the comet to guide him, he embarked on his journey to the ruined village, praying to a God he didn't believe in to keep him safe with a straight back.

He would make his sister smile again. He would be a great duelist like his father. He would show Freed that he was strong.

And like countless amounts of children before him, Kyle walked willingly into the hands of ignorant death, witlessly offering his life to any monsters that may happen by.

It was completely impossible that he would return alive on his own. In a way, it was a miracle he even made it to the village. It was just dumb luck that the scouting monster hit his duel disk instead of his throat.

But it was Fate that he met the other two duelists; that much even he knew. When they fell from the sky, one stepping in front of him and accepting combat as if it were a complicated game, the other pulling him beside her and yelling at the boy, he could feel the shifting beneath him, and when Scar was defeated by the boy and the alarm was sent, lighting the boy's face in a brilliant purple glow, he felt something he had not felt in a long time.

Even when Freed appeared with scolding words, mistrustful glances, and a hasty retreat, the image of the boy in the light, shining like the sun, would not leave him. It was a warm glow in his chest, and when he cupped his small hands over it and the photograph he had retrieved, returning to his sister's embrace with ease, he thought it felt like a far off memory, or a dream.

He thought it felt like hope.

* * *

**Thanks** for reading as always, and please let me know if my long absence has affected the flow of this story in any way at all... **(wanders out)**

AxJfan**  
**


	20. Lessons to Learn Part 2

**Part **two of three for these chapters, during which fun things will happen and omitted events will be explained.

Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gx. Period.

* * *

**Lessons to Learn**

**Part 2**

**Third Person POV**

Without comprehension, they stared at the charred spot before them, still smoldering faintly under the light of the stars overhead, mouths hanging open. Jesse's hand remained outstretched from where he had slid when the platform had first toppled, and they all stood somehow unharmed, immobile atop the metal plate that now kissed the forest floor.

"Jaden?"

Driana was the first to speak, untangling herself from where she had hooked her arms around Jesse's legs to stop her fall. On shaky legs, she stood and dashed to the spot, the others unable to even blink. Crashing to her knees, she touched the ashen metal carefully with a finger, reeling back with a small gasp of pain as a white spark snapped upwards, attempting to burn her.

The flash jolted life back into the idle humans, and soon they were all gathered around the black spot spewing out white energy, words falling from their tongues loose and uncensored. Noise cascaded over the group, swallowing any meaning other than panic whole, washing over the head of Atticus as he simply sat down next to the fallen Obelisk and stared blankly at the hole where his sister had been moments before.

"Lexi…"

"What happened?" Syrus shrieked, tugging at his tufts of blue hair sporadically. "What the heck is going on? Where are Jaden and Alexis? Where's that thing that Viper had? Are the ok? WHAT IF THEY'RE DEAD?"

Mimicking him, the others ran around in similar fashions, screaming about lost friends while Jesse joined the other two Obelisks on their knees, pressing his hand against Driana's shaking shoulders.

"We'll find them," he vowed, eyes clear with worry and fear. Wordlessly, she nodded and rose, bangs covering her once sparkling eyes, hands reaching in the pocket of the small blue purse she had swung hastily around her side as soon as she had heard that Axel had revealed Viper and challenged Jaden.

Her palm brushed against the sleek metal of a cell phone before abruptly withdrawing in a fist, teeth scowling at the sky in defiance. She took in the others panicking in a frenzy, searching silently for the one calm face among them. Although more shocked than she had given him credit for, Axel stood out enough among the ashen-faced group, the betrayal of his teacher and the disappearance of two friends only a minor chink in his armor.

When Jesse tried to grab her arm, she shook him off and marched resolutely towards him, passing through the frenzied group with little effort, eyes smoldering and unseen.

But when she reached him, she could not be ignored.

The sound of her palm smacking against his face was enough to stop the others and make them stare open-mouthed at a new spectacle, and when she grabbed the silent exchange student's coat and dragged him closer to snarl into his face, their words ran out. Only hers remained.

"You were working for Viper!"

Another hard blow across the cheek, the dark skin slowly turning red; still he said nothing.

"You knew how psychotic this guy was!"

The other cheek was no longer jealous as her hand made its way back, turning his gaze towards the ledge that Viper had walked off after being touched by the glowing maniac.

"You knew about these bracelets!"

She shoved him away and he stumbled back, still standing but downtrodden, unwilling to spare a word to end her rant.

"You told Jaden what Viper was up to!"

Her finger prodded his chest hard enough to bruise, and he held her blazing eyes steady with his calm ones. Lips trembling, she spat:

"You sent him here!"

Both hands fisted at her sides, eyes tearing away from his gaze with a few solitary tears as she cried, "It's all your fault!"

Jesse was up and between them before they could blink, holding both hands out as if warding away her words. "Driana, hold up, it's not like that! Axel was trying to stop Viper. He was just helping us!"

_"Helping?"_ she accused, her gaze suddenly aimed at the European duelist. "How was he _helping_ when he left us alone after he led us to the animal testing place?"

"He went to fry the circuits! It was Jaden and I that wanted to go ahead in the first place!"

"And when we were separated because the power went out and let all those animals loose?"

"He fried the circuits obviously!"

"Then how about when Syrus and I found Jaden passed out on the side of the building because he had used so much energy dueling some history teacher!"

"_I_ left him there so he could rest!"

"Shut up."

The two turned away from each other, Jesse's hands protectively held across his chest, Driana's finger ready to attack once more, to start at the sound of the African boy's words as he glared coldly down on them. "There should not be any divisions in the ranks. Fighting amongst ourselves is useless."

"Then enlighten us!" Chazz spat suddenly, leaping into the conversation with the Ojama Trio circling around his head. "Tell us what's really going on with Slacker and Viper already!"

There was an awkward pause as the bickering trio registered the new player, and Axel seized that moment with his quiet voice to answer the question, "It is true that I dueled Jaden under Viper's orders with the intention of bringing out his true duelist potential."

"What about me?" Syrus piped up suddenly, eyes watery but determined. The bronze gaze swapped over to the younger boy. "Was kidnapping me an order you just followed?"

Axel simply shook his head. "I thought Viper was searching for potential to scout, and knowing Jaden's type, I needed to make him take the duel seriously. You were never in any true danger, the rope would never have snapped if you had not panicked."

"I was over the freaking ocean!" Syrus yelped out in his defense, earning a hard nod from Hassleberry as backup.

"Regardless, I didn't know the side effects of these bracelets until after dueling Jaden," Axel continued slowly, lifting his arm to examine the metal offender critically. A flash of fire danced across his dark eyes, and his frown grew. "But when I saw what it had done to him and how it felt against me, I knew Viper had made a foul move. And as a soldier under my father's spirit, I cannot allow such a thing."

Ignoring Jesse's relieved look and Driana's mistrusting one, he continued, "After regaining my strength Jaden called me to make sure I was alright, and it was then that I realized he was not the threat Viper was making him out to be, and that I could trust him."

Atticus seemed to regain some lost life at the sound of the festival he had thrown together to force his sister and the Slifer together. Somehow finding the strength to stand, he drew himself closer to the foreigner and folded his arms across his chest, content on listening. "What did Viper say about Jaden exactly?"

Agitated silence twitched among the haphazard group as they recalled the eavesdropped conversation about golden eyes and darkness, all wondering if Axel had seen it but too afraid to admit it. On some level, Axel sensed the uncertainty in the others' bodies and paused before speaking, evaluating them as if wondering what he could tell them.

The sapphire eyes of the girl in front of him unnerved him the most, and made him feel as if speaking would destroy something delicate that strung them together, something that would cause an unfavorable and abrupt end to this brewing war.

He sighed, "Viper told me that Jaden was simply a powerful enemy and that he wanted to observe his raw dueling spirit. And judging on what these bracelets did to him last night, he did more than that."

"Why didn't you take it to Principal Shepherd?" Atticus countered, fingers digging into the dirty folds of his Obelisk jacket. Axel shook his head in response, choosing to reply softly, "I sought out Jaden and stole him from his duel with Driana because he was the target. If I did not tell him first, Viper would have drained him and he would be dead."

He averted his eyes suddenly, the burned metal a haunt in his soul, "Once he knew, there was no stopping him from chasing after Viper."

"He was really pumped about it," Jesse added with a hint of confusion, turning his eyes back to the Obelisk girl staring him down. "I don't think he would've asked for help had I not heard about you challenging Jaden and rushed down to the arena."

"Yeah," Hassleberry agreed suddenly, scratching his head. "The Serge has never turned down a chance to duel before, and he's been itching to see Private Driana's deck for a while now."

"So then why would he refuse?" Bastion questioned, looking up from where he was examining the charred remains. "Certainly he just would have barreled on with his challenge and then gone after Viper?"

"Of course he would," Chazz muttered to himself, "Slacker has no brains when it comes to dueling."

"But he's been so distant lately," Driana piped up suddenly. They turned to look at her, to find her staring off towards the setting sun as it framed Duel Academy in warm tones. Taking a deep breath, she turned to face them, something wavering in her stance, "And we know about those… those 'Golden eyes' he was talking about with Zane. Jaden might have thought Viper knew about this and went after him to stop something bad from happening."

"He's been pretty shaken up lately," Jesse agreed, glancing at Ruby as she appeared worriedly on his shoulders, "with everyone getting hurt left and right he probably just wanted to stop it as soon as he could."

"Well he stopped it alright," Chazz muttered, closing his eyes to erase the image of Viper strolling towards a welcome death, the maniacal glowing illusion of his child cackling before targeting Jaden… and Alexis… "And Alexis went down with him! Damn Slacker!"

Syrus and Driana leapt to the red-clad absentee's defense before he could finish the insult, "This isn't Jaden's fault! Alexis was trying to help him! This is all Viper's fault!"

"Yeah, because Viper made Slacker give us the cold shoulder when we could have helped," the black Slifer shot, one ebony eye sneering open.

Syrus' falter was made up for by the Obelisk girl's growl, "He was protecting us."

A hand was thrown towards the smoking area where Alexis had vanished, "And he did a great job too!"

"You bastard!" Driana yelped, taking a threatening step forward. "You don't even care about Jaden—you're just hung up on Alexis! She isn't interested! Get over it and grow an actual heart!"

"You're one to talk!" he snarled. "You told Slacker you loved him!"

"Chazz!" Atticus shushed, coming between the two a moment too late. Shock registered dimly on all the faces around them, Driana's lips parting in dry surprise. The dying light of the sun shook in her eyes as she lowered her fists, backing away towards the school once more.

Her voice was a harsh whisper, "He told you?"

"We forced him to," the eldest explained in a rush, defending the feelings that were already incapacitated, determined to stop all the pain rushing from the wounds Viper and his glowing monster had inflicted. "Chazz and I wanted to figure out what had happened during Jaden and Zane's duel, so we cornered him on the roof and made him spill. He said the last thing he remembered was you saying you loved him."

Two fingers came up to meet her soft lips and she sighed, shoulders drooping, "He used me. He used my feelings to stop you from finding out that he hurt Zane."

"That's a little harsh," Jesse flinched as the others drew back in surprise. Eyes guarded, he pleaded with the betrayed expressions on the scorned allies' faces, "I'm sure Jay wasn't lying to you all."

"No," she muttered bitterly, "he just told _my_ secret to protect his own. He didn't lie to anyone, just betrayed me."

Uncertainty gripped their throats to stop any recoiling words they had left to defend their friend, each exchanging silent memories of the accused doing just that to them, all the situations he had trapped them in because his lips had stayed sealed.

"It doesn't matter!" Syrus burst out suddenly. "Jaden and Alexis are still missing and we still have to find them!"

"Well said Private!" Hassleberry agreed, though his voice faltered as he glanced towards the school, remembering the threat that Jaden's _golden eyes_ supposedly held above it. He looked away. "We've got some friends to save."

A determined chorus of agreement rose up with those words, accompanied by a tiny nod from Driana and a numb grin from Jesse, whose concerned gaze never left the former's quivering lips. Renewed in their mission, the haphazard group helped each other down off the collapsed metal plate, pushing the troubling thoughts about loyalty to the back of their minds, where they hoped they would never rear up again.

They wouldn't realize their mistake until it was too late.

"That's great and everything," Blair popped up suddenly, finally emerging from her shocked state without Jaden around and the blatant challenge from the older, prettier Obelisk, "but we don't even know what happened!"

They stopped cold in their tracks, mouths agape at the truth in the youngest' words of wisdom. Turning to each other, they looked down at their idle wrist scanners in unison, then back to the hunk of metal covering the underground entrance to the animal testing facility, ensuring that the machines could not be shut down.

Struck with fear like lightning, the duelists whipped around as one towards their school, all coming to the same conclusion and fear at once. "The machine's still set so high—"

"—so what if what happened here—"

"—is going to happen to everyone—"

"—that duels now?"

Without further prompt, they began a mad dash towards the school, desperate to break up any duels they may come across, praying with all their hearts and minds that no one would have to suffer the same fate as Jaden and Alexis, and wondering in the back of their minds if their friends were even still alive.

Only two felt certain in their survival, one on a confusing instinct, the other on prior knowledge from living in the world they had undoubtedly been sent to. Her fingers curled into fists as she saw the discord running among the other's faces and the anger in her own heart at Yubel's low blow.

_His friends are doubting him_, she thought to herself, sprinting out to catch up with the lead, Jesse, ignoring the sharp glare Axel gave his back, _but should I really be breaking them apart now? Is that what he wants me to do? _

And more importantly…

Had Yubel won?

* * *

**Dark World**

**Hidden Village**

**Jaden's POV**

With Neos' fist striking down the remainder of Scarr's lifepoints, the monster turned its armored head towards the still sky, eyes glowing a vicious blue. As his body began to glow the same soft orange that the soldiers Flaming Wingman had attacked, the orange monster shot up a beacon high into the sky, the effort seeming to be his last.

Golden particles dashed outwards at the sight, as if debris from a launching point, leaving the spot where he had stood suddenly empty. Although I deactivated my duel-disk and brushed off the damage he had managed to nail me with, my hands trembled, aware that I had just ended his life.

"What happened to him?" Alexis whispered, keeping the boy we had found soon after we landed close to her side. He clung to her leg and eyed me with a mixture of awe and fear, his one free hand gripping the picture frame he had dug out of one of the village homes as if his life depended on it.

Remembering Scarr had attacked him before I had intervened with Flaming Wingman, I dropped to one knee, temporarily ignoring Alexis' question for this kid's sake, something she wasn't too happy about, but understood. One warm hand dropped onto his head and messed up his limp purple ponytail, and she spared him one of her soft, glowing smiles, a treat for anyone to see.

"H-he's dead," the boy answered for me, looking away at the shocked expression coating the female's face. "When you lose a duel here, you die." He turned back to me with a scrutinizing glance, barely able to hide the trembling in his shoulders. "Didn't you know that? Where did you come from?"

"Far away," Alexis replied faintly, leaving it at that as we exchanged confused glances.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked, propping my hands up on my kneecap, ignoring the spidery feeling crawling up the back of my neck and Haou's insistence that we should leave. "What's your name anyway?"

Detaching from the Obelisk's leg, he shied away in a circle, leaning up against the nearest building and playing with the frame on his portrait, unsure and wary like a small, frightened animal. Vile hatred surged through me as he fell into the shadow of this ruined place, overlooked by the dominating presence of the dark tower Alexis and I had escape from, and I couldn't keep it out of my eyes as they cut towards the comet looming overhead.

In some twisted manner, the sight brought relief to his face, as if he had never seen kindness and only recognized hatred as a feature of a human face. As his mouth opened to speech freely, the corners of mine dropped, wondering what exactly had happened here to make a child suffer so much.

But before he could answer, a deeper voice cut across his words, "Kyle!"

The brutality behind that word sent me pivoting around and activating my duel-disk, hand drawn and ready to face the new threat even if my muscles were aching from the unaccustomed flight and combat against Scarr. Shoving her disgust and shock in the back corner, Alexis dropped into the familiar stance as well, though her hands shook for entirely different reasons than mine.

She was afraid to kill.

And I wasn't.

_Isn't that scary enough in itself?_ I wondered, glaring as the green-caped, armored figure marched into the square, his long locks of blonde hair whipping around his hard face in the wind. Confusion made its way onto my face. _Is he a duel monster? Or just a human…?_

Flashes of sunlight across silver armor, a proud smile on a dark face, and the pressure of a great hand urging me forward collided against this guy, coupled with a loyal bow and a faint smile.

"Sir Freed!" Kyle called out suddenly, disrupting my thoughts and stopping the question on Alexis' lips. Swapping gazes once more, we lowered out duel-disks and watched, understanding that we were the outsiders in this world and had no right interfering.

… Well, at least she did.

Without hesitation, the man called Freed grabbed hold of the child's shirt and proclaimed, "You can't go off on your own!" before lifting him up and tossing him to the ground, drawing a protesting noise from the two of us and a whimper from the boy. Towering and cruel, he continued, "I thought I already told you this."

Kyle said nothing, simply looked down at the portrait he had very nearly died for. Outraged, we stepped forward as one, the resulting sounds of our footsteps alerting the powerful man to our presence. He took in my bruised form in a millisecond and determined me to be the threat, narrowing his eyes as I protested, "What are you doing to him? Can't you tell he's been hurt enough?"

"You're being cruel," Alexis chimed in, her glare matching his effortlessly. "Leave him alone."

The soot in her hair and cheeks alerted him to where we had been. As he looked back at me his eyes widened a fraction as if in recognition before falling back into an impassive stare. "You've done many unnecessary things."

"Jaden just saved Kyle's life," she snapped out, grabbing my shoulder and shoving me behind her as she advanced on the tall man, abandoning her fear and confusion in favor of anger, "at the risk of his own! Why don't you show a little gratitude?"

Reevaluating me as the greater threat, he shifted his cape up higher on his silver shoulder guards and replied with no infliction, "Scarr is a scout for Zure's army."

"Zure?" I repeated, the name ringing a familiar bell within me. _Had Scarr mentioned it?_

Suddenly forgetting her rage, the feisty Obelisk snapped up straight, turning towards the west in confusion. "What's that sound?"

The four of us paused at the progressive stomps and claws of feet sent the earth shaking below our feet, the shrieks of armor and the clanks of chain mail swarming out the heavy breathing of approaching company. Ignoring her, Freed turned towards the boy he had abused and commanded, "Let's go Kyle."

He nodded and scampered off, allowing Freed to pause and eye us once more, the way I tensed up ready to fight and Alexis stood tall and challenging towards the terrible racket approaching us. "You two as well."

Without waiting for an answer, he turned heel and ran off, eyes lingering on mine as if expecting to see someone else appear there. Chills ran down my spine as I recognized someone else very well could, and I once again wondered about whether or not this guy was human, if he could sense my darkness or he was just being paranoid.

A burning on my cheek told me Alexis was back on her warpath against me. Rather than face her all-powerful gaze, I seized her hand and began dragging her behind me, remembering the danger in the words she had called out in the tunnel we fell through. "Come on or we'll lose them."

Spurred by the sound of harsh calls of the approaching army, she followed close on my heels, her eyes willing the back of my head to spontaneously combust, unsatisfied with watching Freed's careful path away from the opposition as I was.

"Jaden," she demanded, much to Freed's and my chagrin, the former scowling at the noise she made, even though the army was far too loud to notice. "Did you know what would happen when you dueled Scarr?"

I thought back to the way my palms had sweat during that match, the way my heart had hammered against my ribcage, how my lungs had gasped for breath, and my mind for relief. Biting my lip, I shrugged another half-lie off my tongue, unwilling to share the experience with anyone else, "When I felt the damage after Scarr knocked Thunder Giant out of the match… I figured it was like a Shadow Duel."

The squeezing of my hand told me she believed me, leaving the nervous guilt fluttering around my throat room to breath. We ran in silence for a few moments, watching Freed shove Kyle ahead every time he slowed to a pant, as merciless in his retreat as he had been in his advance. No longer feeling the flames of her gaze on the back of my head, I risked a glance at her to see how she was holding out in her heels, finding her staring down the bulky man ahead as I had.

"I know we don't have another option," she said suddenly, pitching her voice lower to prevent from being overheard as Kyle stifled a whimper and pushed onwards in spite of all the abuse his body had been through, "But I'm not ok with following this guy. He's a coward."

When I said nothing in reply, she asked, "Are you?"

Watching the soldier urge the boy on without words, but keeping a sharp eye on the horizon in front of him, I agreed softly, "No."

But when the blue comet's light caught on his face and armor, setting him alight like a glorious warrior he had obviously once been, I caught the snippet of something more from him, the feeling of worthlessness, but the drive to protect those he cared about even if he was called cruel…

I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment, watching the expected images play out against my retinas wearily.

The feeling of being chained, my hands bound to the pillory as the public stared up in mute horror, cowering before the man in white strolling around me, whip in hand.

The outcries of Driana and Jesse and my skin gave way to the tanned leather, leaving long bleeding marks to decorate the gaping wound my lover's knife hand already inflicted.

The sudden rebellion from the captive audience, the commanding voice of my mother as she appeared, clothed in black and gold under the hot sun in retaliation, the Steel Knight Army flooding the arena at her command.

White robes stained red with her blood, and the cry of a single knight as he attempted to stem the flow with his green cape, his blonde hair hiding his face as I stared at her death and attempted not to cry, refused to give into the demands of the Light under the thumb of my Kingdom.

My eyes were heavy with the weight of my words. "But I trust him."

* * *

**Below Animal Testing Facility**

**Third Person POV**

"Get down!"

Cursing, a blanket of green bangs covered her sharp emerald eyes as she hooked her arms around his midriff, catapulting the two of them to the side. Closing her eyes and tucking her victim's head under her neck for protection, she collided bodily with the wall, jostled by the impact, but alive.

Cutting upwards, she grit her teeth and squinted into the clouds of dirt dumping from the ceiling with the pebbles trickling down, evaluating the damage the rockslide had done and trying to figure out how the hell it had happened in the first place. Gathering her legs under her, she pulled her hostage up and towards the door to the tiny room, bitter that the circuits had been fried and they could no longer watch over the duelists who had been making their way up to Viper before the power went out.

"Come on Sir, aftershock," she coughed out, yanking on his wrist to pull him forward. He stumbled at her eagerness but quickly regained balance in spite of his age, taking up his regal pose once more.

Ignoring her, he turned back to the destroyed console, pressing the speaker next to it that had remained unharmed. Static cackled from the wires immediately, parting ways after a moment to reveal the frantic voice of another, "Sir! Ryoku! Are you alright? Sir?"

Before he could speak, Artemis cut across, "For the love of God Drake, you moron. Of course we're fine. Haven't you known me long enough to figure that out by now?"

"Eternity wouldn't be long enough," he snapped back, "let alone four decades you old hag."

Teeth curving into a menacing snarl, she straightened her back and whispered, "I must have hit my head in all the confusion, because I thought you just called me an old hag. Now we both know you're too smart for that, right? You value your life, right?"

Her charge smirked softly to himself at their bickering before turning his attention back to the problem at hand, keeping his face cool and collected in spite of his troubled heart. "What's happened? Has Yuki reached Viper? Has he claimed victory?"

The uncertain pause at the other end of the line drew apprehension back into the room. Suddenly unarmed, Artemis turned back to her superior with widened eyes, sensing that the news about to be delivered was not in their favor, ready to judge his reaction.

Fear was quickly drowned by anger in those dark eyes, and the man growled softly, "What. Happened. To. Jaden."

A sigh, "Yubel took him."

* * *

**Dark World**

**Third Person POV**

"That wench! Bitch! Incomprehensible whore!" it spat, pacing back and forth atop its clichéd mountain viewpoint, leaving small snippets of glowing energy in its wake.

This had not been the plan, it had meant to take its beloved away to the Door, the portal in the desert attached to this Dark World, the Door that lead to the lair it had created for itself. Never had it meant to bring them into this disgusting, infested, rotting Kingdom! It had already vowed never to look back at the place that had stolen its loved one, and yet here it was, glaring down the spiraling tail of the blue comet it had come to despise.

"Witch! Betrayer! Traitor!"

That blue-eyed, raven-haired ruffian was the cause of this flaw! Had she not hooked her arm and sent her own power and connections into the Light-Stream it was manipulating… then he and its lover would be together again, not caught up in the conflicts of a dying world!

"And with another," it hissed, clenching its claw tightly, ignoring the rush of energy that came from its beloved claiming victory. Its form vibrated with malice, burning the small plant-life that cropped around its talons, and vowed, "I will make them pay for stealing you from me!"

Suddenly withdrawing from its rage, it looked down at the half-formed arm and muttered, "Your promise… I won't let you forget it."

* * *

Thanks for reading and please review,

~AxJfan


	21. Oops

Well... I totally forgot where I was going with this. I remember changing my plot around before I uploaded that last chapter two years ago, and I've had my computer reimaged since then and lost all of my documents about Golden Eyes.

So I'm going to restart it with some MAJOR edits. Driana is going to be the only new transfer student, as the others are largely unnecessary. Things will be moving much more quickly, as I now recognize most of my chapters are filler sort of updates. The overarching plot is still the same, because I remember where I'm going with that! But the part will have to change, a lot.

My question to you guys is where you want to to start a completely new story and document for it, or just completely edit the chapters to the current version. I know several of you really like this story and enjoy rereading it, so I won't take it down if you don't want me too. Either way, I'm starting the revamp of Golden Eyes and close to finishing a chapter of Without You, so thanks for sticking with me!


	22. Discontinued

I decided to leave this document up as discontinued and restart a completely new one for "Golden Eyes." It's easy to identify, because it's called "Golden Eyes (Revamp)."

What's different:

-No OCs

-Faster pacing

-Starts in the aftermath of Zane's duel

-Character Deaths

Thank you all for your feedback and continued support. I'm very excited to be back, so let's get creating!


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